Solitary plasmacytoma of the mastoid bone presenting as coalescent mastoiditis

Acute mastoiditis is a complication of acute otitis media that produces air cell opacification and coalescence on computed tomographic (CT) imaging. This appearance, however, is nonspecific and may be seen in patients with infection and tumor. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can aid in differentiating the two on the basis of differences in tissue signal characteristics and by showing the presence or absence of an associated soft-tissue mass. In this report, we demonstrate the utility of MRI as a complementary imaging modality to CT in the diagnosis of a solitary plasmacytoma of the temporal bone that was initially thought to be coalescent mastoiditis.