Single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography of the skull in malignant otitis externa.

Malignant otitis externa is a severe, rare infective condition of the external auditory canal and skull base. The diagnosis is generally made from a range of clinical, laboratory, and imaging findings. Technetium 99m methylene diphosphonate bone scintigraphy is known to detect osteomyelitis earlier than computed tomography. The authors present a patient with bilateral malignant otitis externa where the extent of skull base involvement was determined on 3-phase bone scintigraphy with single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography.