Spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid otorrhea. Congenital anomaly of bony labyrinth a possible cause.

A patient had recurrent meningitis as a result of a congenital anomaly of the bony labyrinth. As far as could be traced in the literature, this was the first time that an isolated congenital anomaly of the bony labyrinth could be shown to be the origin of spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid otorrhea and the resulting recurrent meningitis. In cerebrospinal fluid otorrhea of unknown origin, tomographic x-ray examination of the bony labyrinth is of utmost importance. For the detection of the finer details is the bony structure of the labyrinth, this tomography should be done according to one of the multidirectional techniques.