Mastoid obliteration with S53P4 bioactive glass after canal wall down mastoidectomy: Preliminary results.

BACKGROUND: Bioactive glass (S53P4), abbreviated BG, currently seems to be the best material for reconstructing the posterior wall of the auditory canal and obliterating the postoperative cavity. PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to report preliminary results of otosurgery involving obliteration of the mastoid cavity after canal wall down mastoidectomy. METHODS: 11 adult patients who had had a history of chronic otitis media with cholesteatoma in one or both ears and previous canal wall down mastoidectomy. The duration of the follow-up was 6 months, with routine visits after 7 days, then 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery. The patient's medical history, noting other diseases potentially affecting the healing process, was analyzed. Healing, audiometric results, reduction of the volume of the cavity after surgery, and reduction of bacterial flora growth were assessed. RESULTS: There was not worsening in the audiological evaluation. Healing period was uneventful. There was a reduction in volume of the postoperative cavity, no development of pathological flora, and no recurrence of cholesteatoma. CONCLUSION: Obliteration of the mastoid process with S53P4 bioactive glass is a safe and effective method of treatment. Such a procedure should be considered as a treatment for patients after canal wall down surgery (CWD).

Mastoiditis with Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 19A in one-dose PCV13 vaccinated three-month-old infant.

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) have been widely used in high-income countries for more than a decade, resulting in a dramatic reduction in pneumococcal disease caused by vaccine serotypes. PCV has been included in Turkey's National Immunization Programme since 2009 with PCV7 and continued with PCV13 from 2011. We presented a three-month-old infant who developed mastoiditis secondary to S. pneumoniae serotype 19A after acute otitis media.

Rare case of a 3-year-old with Candida skull base osteomyelitis: lessons to be learnt.

Skull base osteomyelitis (SBO) is a serious and rare condition most commonly seen in elderly diabetic or immunocompromised patients as a complication of otitis externa. We present the case of a previously healthy 3-year-old girl who presented to the paediatric emergency department with vomiting, fever, lethargy, headache and left-sided facial nerve palsy. The initial CT head revealed left-sided otitis media with otomastoiditis and she was managed with intravenous antibiotics and myringotomy with grommet insertion with initial improvement. Two weeks later she re-presented having deteriorated and a dedicated mastoid CT and temporal bone MRI showed SBO. She underwent urgent cortical mastoidectomy where microbiological analysis of the cultures and specimen grew Candida albicans She was subsequently treated with long-term antifungals and antibiotics, and eventually recovered with good effect. The diagnostic dilemma and the empirical treatment of such a rare case are discussed.

Atypical Form of Cervicofacial Actinomycosis Involving the Skull Base and Temporal Bone.

BACKGROUND:: Cervicofacial actinomycosis is an uncommon indolent infection caused by Actinomyces spp that typically affects individuals with innate or adaptive immunodeficiencies. Soft tissues of the face and neck are most commonly involved. Actinomyces osteomyelitis is uncommon; involvement of the skull base and temporal bone is exceedingly rare. The authors present a unique case of refractory cervicofacial actinomycosis with development of skull base and temporal bone osteomyelitis in an otherwise healthy individual. METHODS:: Case report with literature review. RESULTS:: A 69-year-old man presented with a soft tissue infection, culture positive for Actinomyces, over the right maxilla. Previous unsuccessful treatment included local debridement and 6 weeks of intravenous ceftriaxone. He was subsequently treated with conservative debridement and a prolonged course of intravenous followed by oral antibiotic. However, he eventually required multiple procedures, including maxillectomy, pterygopalatine fossa debridement, and a radical mastoidectomy to clear his disease. Postoperatively he was gradually transitioned off intravenous antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS:: Cervicofacial actinomycosis involves soft tissue surrounding the facial skeleton and oral cavity and is typically associated with a history of mucosal trauma, surgery, or immunodeficiency. The patient was appropriately treated but experienced disease progression and escalation of therapy. Although actinomycosis is typically not an aggressive bacterial infection, this case illustrates the need for prompt recognition of persistent disease and earlier surgical intervention in cases of recalcitrant cervicofacial actinomycosis. Chronic actinomycosis has the potential for significant morbidity.

Actinomycosis of the Middle Ear and Mastoid.

INTRODUCTION: Actinomycosis is a saprophytic infection caused by actinomycetes. Actinomycetes is a gram positive, anaerobic, non acid-fast, filamentous bacterium. Although actinomyce is considered as a part of the normal flora, it is rarely seen in middle ear and mastoid cavity. AIM: is to report a rare case of Actinomycosis infection of the middle ear and mastoid cavity. CASE REPORT: We presented A 24 years old male arrived to our outpatient department complaining of right-sided otalgia and hearing loss for 8 years, no history of otorreah, vertigo or dizziness. He had a history of right-sided chronic suppurative otitis media with a history of two operations at the same side. This report suggests that actinomycosis , although it is rare, it could occurs in middle ear. It should be considered as one of the differential for chronic suppurative otitis media patients with no improvement on medical treatment. CONCLUSION: Combined medical and surgical treatment is the recommended management for Actinomycosis infection of the middle ear and mastoid cavity.

Atypical presentation of aural tuberculosis with complication.

Tuberculosis involving mastoid and ear is an uncommon entity presenting with myriads of non-specific features and difficult to diagnose, being a paucibacillary condition. The involvement of otomastoid compartment is hypothesised to be of haematogenous origin. Rarely it can spread directly via tympanic membrane perforation or via reflux through eustachian tube. The usual picture of presentation tends to be one of indolent ear infection not responsive to usual antibiotic treatment and symptomatology being out of proportion to examination findings. We present a case of aural tuberculosis presenting with zygomatic and Bezold abscess without other symptoms, and the usefulness of GeneXpert test in mycobacterial detection in such paucibacillary conditions.

Bacterial strain changes during chronic otitis media surgery.

OBJECTIVE: Cultures obtained from pre-operative middle-ear swabs from patients with chronic otitis media have traditionally been used to guide antibiotic selection. This study investigated changes in the bacterial strains of the middle ear during chronic otitis media surgery. METHODS: Pre-operative bacterial cultures of otorrhoea, and peri-operative cultures of the granulation tissue in either the middle ear or mastoid cavity, were obtained. Post-operative cultures were selectively obtained when otorrhoea developed after surgery. RESULTS: Bacterial growth was observed in 45.5 per cent of pre-operative cultures, 13.5 per cent of peri-operative cultures and 4.5 per cent of post-operative cultures. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was identified as the most common bacteria in all pre-operative (32.4 per cent), peri-operative (52.4 per cent) and post-operative (71.4 per cent) tests, and the percentage of Methicillin-resistant S aureus increased from the pre- to the post-operative period. CONCLUSION: The bacterial culture results for post-operative otorrhoea showed low agreement with those for pre-operative or peri-operative culture, and strain re-identification was required.

Facial extention of ear pathology: infected cholesteatoma causing a parotid abscess.

A man in his early 30s presented with right-sided preauricular swelling and facial oedema. He had a history of acid injury to his right ear as a child resulting in pinna deformity and subsequent blind sac closure of the external auditory canal. Imaging showed abnormal ear anatomy and abnormal density of the right parotid gland. Antibiotic therapy prevented progression but did not resolve the symptoms. Therefore, the infected area was surgically drained. This showed an underlying cholesteatoma, a benign but locally destructive condition where keratinising squamous epithelium grows in the middle ear and mastoid. The infected region was drained and the cholesteatoma was excised. This led to full resolution of the infection. The patient is awaiting a follow-up diffusion-weighted MRI. This case was unusual as the disease had extended beyond the ear and we therefore wish to alert clinicians to cholesteatoma as a possible cause of facial swelling.

Multicenter surveillance of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from middle ear and mastoid cultures in the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine era.

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a common cause of otitis media (OM) in children; mastoiditis remains an important complication of OM. Limited data are available on the impact of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) on pneumococcal otitis. METHODS: Investigators from 8 children's hospitals in the United States prospectively collected pneumococcal isolates from middle ear or mastoid cultures from children from 2011 to 2013. Serotype and antibiotic susceptibilities were determined and PCV13 doses for children documented. RESULTS: Over the 3-year period, the proportion of isolates included in PCV13 (plus a related serotype) decreased significantly (P = .0006) among the middle ear/mastoid isolates (2011, 50% [74/149]; 2012, 40.5% [47/116]; 2013, 29% [34/118]). The number of serotype 19A isolates in 2013 (n = 12, 10.2% of total) decreased 76% compared with the number of 19A isolates in 2011 (n = 50, 33.6% of total). Of the children from whom serotype 19A was isolated (n = 93), 55% had previously received <3 doses of PCV13. The most common non-PCV13 serotypes for the combined years were 35B (n = 37), 21 (n = 20), 23B (n = 20), 15B (n = 18), 11 (n = 17), 23A (n = 14), 15A (n = 14), and 15C (n = 14). The proportion of isolates with a penicillin minimal inhibitory concentration >2 µg/mL decreased significantly over the 3 years (2011, 22% [35/154]; 2012, 20% [24/118]; 2013, 10% [12/120]; P < .02). CONCLUSIONS: The number of pneumococcal isolates and the percentage of isolates with high-level penicillin resistance from cultures taken from children with OM or mastoiditis for clinical indications have decreased following PCV13 use, largely related to decreases in serotype 19A isolates.

Infants under the age of six months with acute mastoiditis. A descriptive study of 15 years in Sweden.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the occurrence, clinical signs and outcome of acute mastoiditis in infants under the age of 6 months in Sweden between the years 1993-2007. METHODS: All ENT departments in Sweden reported children 0-5 months treated for acute mastoiditis 1993-2007 and all records were reviewed. The clinical course and various characteristics were recorded. RESULTS: Seventeen young infants with acute mastoiditis were identified. Three patients had suffered acute otitis media earlier, otherwise the children were previously healthy. Preceding the episode of acute mastoiditis, the children had an upper respiratory tract infection or fever for seven days in mean (median three days) and the mean number of days with ear-symptoms was three days (median two days). Three patients were treated with antibiotics prior to admittance. Almost all children presented with clear retroauricular signs with protruding ear and redness behind the ear. The children were hospitalised for six days (mean and median). Eight patients (47%) suffered from a subperiosteal abscess. All but one patient underwent surgery: myringotomy (13); incision or punction of the mastoid (5); mastoidectomy (3). Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most frequent bacterium identified in cultures. No intracranial complications or other severe complications were found. CONCLUSION: Acute mastoiditis is extremely rare in infants under the age of 6 months. The patients in this study did not have any predisposing diseases. An upper respiratory tract infection had preceded the episode of acute mastoiditis for some time in the majority of cases, but the time from first ear symptoms to hospitalization was very short. Acute mastoiditis is a potentially life-threatening disease, but the timely administration of intravenous antibiotics and surgical intervention prevented the occurrence of severe complications in these young infants.

A case of direct intracranial extension of tuberculous otitis media.

We describe a very rare case of tuberculous otitis media (TOM) with direct intracranial extension. The patient was a 55-year-old man who presented to our ENT clinic for evaluation of severe headaches and right-sided otorrhea. A biopsy of granulation tissue obtained from the right external auditory canal demonstrated chronic inflammation that was suggestive of mycobacterial infection. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain indicated intracranial extension of TOM through a destroyed tegmen mastoideum. After 2 months of antituberculous medication, the headaches and otorrhea were controlled, and the swelling in the external ear canal subsided greatly. Rarely does TOM spread intracranially. In most such cases, intracranial extension of tuberculosis occurs as the result of hematogenous or lymphogenous spread. In rare cases, direct spread through destroyed bone can occur, as it did in our patient.

Tuberculosis of middle ear and mastoid.

OBJECTIVE: Review clinical manifestations, investigation, and treatment of tuberculosis of the middle ear. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A retrospective review of six cases diagnosed as tuberculosis of the middle ear at a tertiary referral center was included in the present study. The outcome measures were history, clinical manifestations, investigation, and treatment were reviewed in the medical records. RESULTS: The authors retrospectively reviewed data of our patients diagnosed as tuberculosis of the middle ear. It has been found that the most common manifestation is chronic otorrhea. Investigations are variable such as histopathology, tissue culture, or polymerase chain reaction for identification of tuberculosis. Treatment is mainly medication, however, surgery is considered for histopathology in selected cases. CONCLUSION: Tuberculosis of the middle ear is a rare disease that requires high index of suspicion for diagnosis due to the variety of clinical manifestations. Identification of tuberculosis is a key for diagnosis and treatment.

Identification of Actinomyces meyeri actinomycosis in middle ear and mastoid by 16S rRNA analysis.

Actinomycosis of the middle ear and mastoid is extremely rare. Here, we report a unique case of actinomycosis of the middle ear and mastoid caused by Actinomyces meyeri diagnosed by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis.

Unique microbiology of chronically unstable canal wall down tympanomastoid cavities: considerations for surgical revision.

OBJECTIVE: To review the microbiology of open tympanomastoid cavities in patients who underwent revision surgery due to chronic instability. METHODS: This paper describes a retrospective chart review of surgical revision cases of chronically unstable open mastoid cavities. Patient records from 2000 to 2010 were reviewed for the type of organism cultured, antimicrobial resistance and the presence of cholesteatoma. RESULTS: In total, 121 revision surgical procedures were performed on 101 patients. Seventy-nine procedures involved culture specimen processing, 37 of which were positive. The most commonly cultured organism was Staphylococcus aureus, which was more than twice as common as any other pathogen. The presence of cholesteatoma had no impact on the likelihood of a positive culture or polymicrobial culture. Antimicrobial-resistant pathogens were uncommon. CONCLUSION: A positive culture was not an overwhelmingly common characteristic of unstable tympanomastoid cavities. Furthermore, antimicrobial resistance did not appear to play an essential role in leading patients towards revision open mastoid surgery.

Mastoid subperiosteal abscess in children: drainage or mastoidectomy?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the management of mastoid subperiosteal abscess using two different surgical approaches: simple mastoidectomy and abscess drainage. METHOD: The medical records of 34 children suffering from acute mastoiditis with subperiosteal abscess were retrospectively reviewed. In these cases, the initial surgical approach consisted of either myringotomy plus simple mastoidectomy or myringotomy plus abscess drainage. RESULTS: Thirteen children were managed with simple mastoidectomy and 21 children were initially managed with abscess drainage. Of the second group, 12 children were cured without further treatment while 9 eventually required mastoidectomy. None of the children developed complications during hospitalisation, or long-term sequelae. CONCLUSION: Simple mastoidectomy remains the most effective procedure for the management of mastoid subperiosteal abscess. Drainage of the abscess represents a simple and risk-free, but not always curative, option. It can be safely used as an initial, conservative approach in association with myringotomy and sufficient antibiotic coverage, with simple mastoidectomy reserved for non-responding cases.

Mastoid biofilm in chronic otitis media.

HYPOTHESIS: We designed a study to determine the role of mastoid mucosal biofilm in chronic otitis media (COM). BACKGROUND: Biofilm formation has been found in several chronic airway infections. COM is associated with chronic, recalcitrant infection of the mastoid mucosa, and surgery often is required. METHODS: COM patients were divided into 2 groups: one with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) and one with cholesteatoma presence. All COM patients had mastoid involvement in a preoperative computed tomographic scan. The control group consisted of patients undergoing cochlear implantation, with no previous history of chronic otitis media. Mastoid mucosa samples were harvested during mastoidectomy. The samples were studied with multiplex-polymerase chain reaction and with CSLM using BacLight Live/Dead stain. Routine bacterial culture was performed in selected cases. RESULTS: A total of 29 COM patients underwent mastoidectomy. Mastoid mucosal biofilm formation could be found in 19 (66%) of these patients. In the control group, there were 11 cases of cochlear implantation, and 1 patient (9%) presented mastoid mucosal biofilm. In the cholesteatoma group, there were 17 patients, of which, 14 (82%) presented biofilm, whereas in the CSOM group, 5 (42%) of 12 patients presented biofilm. The correlation between COM and biofilm was statistically significant (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.003), as was the correlation between cholesteatoma and biofilm, in comparison with the CSOM group (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.046). CONCLUSION: Mastoid mucosal biofilm could be seen in patients with COM with or without cholesteatoma. The role of mastoid biofilm in the development of cholesteatoma should be studied further.

Mastoid subperiosteal abscess as a first sign of unnoticed cholesteatoma in children.

AIM: To present children who underwent mastoidectomy for congenital cholesteatoma presented as a subperiosteal abscess. RESULTS: All seven children (age range 7-14 years, six boys) presented with retroauricular swelling, erythema and fluctuation in the mastoid area, and one child also had a mastoid-cutaneous fistula. Five children had otorrhoea, while the other two had normal-appearing tympanic membranes. None of the children had a history of middle ear disease. Four children were treated with antibiotics for a recent episode of otitis media prior to admission. The main findings at surgery were pus, granulations and erosion of the mastoid cortex. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus sp. were isolated from the abscess in two patients, and the other five cultures were negative. All the patients demonstrated some degree of hearing impairment after surgery. CONCLUSION: Surgical eradication of a mastoid SA in older children is essential as it may be the first indication of an underlying CC.

Otogenic cerebellar abscess: a case report.

This case report describes the gradual deterioration of a healthy, highly functioning man who initially presented with a draining right ear. The patient's indolent neurologic decline and referral to an otologist ultimately led to the diagnosis and treatment of an otogenic cerebellar abscess, an increasingly rare intracranial complication of otitis media. We report this case to illustrate that severe complications of chronic otitis media still occur in the United States, to stress the importance of clinical suspicion in the postantibiotic era, and to review the literature regarding the most appropriate time to perform the otologic portion of the surgery.

Ear tuberculosis: clinical and surgical treatment.

Two main points are discussed in this paper: First, the changing picture of the clinical process of tuberculosis, and second, various diagnostic problems caused by extra-pulmonary forms. We have analysed a case of ear tuberculosis in a child, and drawn the following conclusions: Directed chemotherapy is the primary method of treatment, and surgical methods should be used to provide tissue for bacteriological and histopathological analysis, to enable an early diagnosis during the first stage of the disease, and in other atypical cases.