Vol.99 No.11 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 99 No. 11 November 2006
Acute Mastoiditis: A Review of Nine Cases
Kyo Yasuda, Rei Kitani, Akira Sasaki and Hideichi Shinkawa
(Hirosaki University)
From 2000 to 2002, we treated 9 cases (4 males and 5 females) of acute mastoiditis following acute otitis media. Most of these cases complained of otalgia, otorrhea and hearing loss, and one each had retro-auricular swelling and headache. Four cases had serious complications such as facial nerve palsy, subperiosteal abscess, bacterial meningitis, labyrinthitis and Gradenigo syndrome. All patients revealed mixed hearing loss on pure-tone audiometry and all but 1 case showed complete recovery of hearing. Etiological bacteria from the middle ear were cultured and there were 2 cases each of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. 3 patients were cured by conservative therapy consisting of intravenous antibiotics, myringotomy or insertion of a ventilation tube. Six patients underwent surgical therapy with a simple mastoidectomy and postoperative antibiotic therapy. Facial nerve decompression was performed in 1 case.
The clinical features and conservative or surgical intervention of mastoiditis are discussed.
Key words :
acute mastoiditis, acute otitis media, complications, intravenous antibiotic therapy, mastoidectomy