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Incidence of non-infectious 'acute mastoiditis' in children

G Kontorinis1, I Psarommatis, C Karabinos

  • 1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hanover Medical University, Germany. Kontorinis.Georgios@mh-hannover.de

The Journal of Laryngology and Otology
|October 29, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Non-infectious acute mastoiditis is rare in children but can mimic infections. Suspect non-infectious causes in persistent or recurrent cases of acute mastoiditis.

Area of Science:

  • Otolaryngology
  • Pediatric Infectious Diseases
  • Pediatric Oncology

Background:

  • The temporal bone can be an initial site for systemic diseases.
  • Systemic illnesses may manifest with symptoms mimicking acute mastoiditis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the incidence of non-infectious 'acute mastoiditis' in children.
  • To highlight the diagnostic challenges of non-infectious mastoiditis.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective chart review of 73 pediatric patients.
  • Analysis of cases admitted to a tertiary referral center for acute mastoiditis.

Main Results:

  • Infectious causes were identified in 97.3% of cases.
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most common pathogen (45%).
  • Two cases (2.7%) had non-infectious underlying diseases: myelocytic leukemia and Langerhans' cell histiocytosis.

Conclusions:

  • Non-infectious acute mastoiditis is rare but a significant concern in children.
  • Diagnosis is challenging for otologists.
  • Consider non-infectious etiologies in atypical, persistent, or recurrent acute mastoiditis cases.
Abstract

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