[Mastoiditis in adults: diagnostic and therapeutic aspects]

The purpose of the present study is to report our experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mastoiditis in adults. Five patients with an active chronic otitis and mastoiditis were presented. All of them had a history of chronic ear discharge for long period of time and have been diagnozed and treated sufficiently. All relevant data were analyzed from the medical records. The most common symptoms of the disease were otalgia, otorrhea and hearing loss, but the physical signs of mastoiditis (swelling, erithema and tenderness of the retroauricular region) were presented in all cases. Localization and enlargement of the pathological process within the middle ear spaces was determined by CT. All patients were treated surgically and with intravenous antibiotics. In one patient the other treatment was applied due to a specific (TBC) process in the ear. Early diagnosis and adequate treatment (surgery combined with an effective antibiotics therapy) is most important to prevent a serious complications of mastoiditis (extracranial and/or intracranial).