ACUTE MASTOIDITIS:
INTRODUCTION 1
| Description |
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This dissection of an adult left temporal bone demonstrates the boundaries of a complete cortical mastoidectomy in an extensively pneumatized mastoid process.
Acute mastoiditis is an infection that involves the bony septa of the mastoid air cells and consequently is a condition that can only develop in a pneumatized mastoid.
Acute mastoiditis results from the extension of acute suppurative otitis media into the mastoid air cell system. If the infection persists, the bony walls of the air cells eventually undergo necrosis with the accumulation of pus within the mastoid.
The severity of the mastoid infection is related to the resistance of the patient and the virulence of the infecting bacteria. Beta hemolytic Streptococcus is the most commonly encountered organism. The high sensitivity of this organism to the penicillins probably explains the dramatic drop in the incidence of acute mastoiditis following the introduction of penicillin. Type III pneumococcus also has been associated with acute mastoiditis and with an increased incidence of intracranial spread of infection from the mastoid air cells. |
