[Recurrent purulent meningitis and deafness: Mondini's malformation]

A 5-year-old girl with severe deafness (90 dB) had two successive attacks of bacterial meningitis. A vesicular cochlea was found on polytomography, and a bilateral defect in the stapes footplate with cerebrospinal fluid leakage during surgery (Mondini dysplasia). Although rare, the eventuality of this malformation emphasises the utility of polytomography of the inner ear in children with congenital deafness.