Complications of ear disease.

Forty-seven patients with acute mastoiditis were treated in our hospital over a 2 and a half year period. Seven patients were symptomatic for a short period only. The other 40 gave a history of chronic ear disease, 22 of them with cholesteatoma. Post auricular swelling is an important sign of acute mastoiditis but was found in only 64% of the patients. Forty-five percent of our patients were found to have infection spread beyond the mastoid. Meningitis was the most common complication (13 patients). Most of the patients who presented without post auricular swelling were diagnosed as a result of having one or more complications. We believe that in cases of intracranial pathology or septic fever associated with ear disease, the diagnosis of mastoiditis is most likely. Early operation combined with appropriate antibiotic treatment can prevent further complications and fatal outcome.