title: Hearing preservation mastoidectomy in otogenic meningitis secondary to an enlarged vestibular aqueduct. Case report.
abstract: In pyogenic meningitis resulting from a life-threatening ear infection, mastoidectomy is performed as part of the management of the disorder. A dilemma arises when the active ear is the only hearing ear. An active unsafe ear can lead to sensorineural hearing loss whereas ear surgery carries the risk of inner ear damage. We present the case of a 40-year-old woman admitted for severe purulent meningitis and sub-coma secondary to a left mastoiditis with mixed hearing loss on the left side and complete deafness on the right side. The study of this case shows that the intracranial complication was secondary to an abnormally enlarged left vestibular aqueduct. Because of the failure to control meningitis with medical treatment using highly specific antibiotherapy for two weeks, we proceeded with a left side mastoidectomy and closure of the external aperture of the vestibular aqueduct with a muscle graft. This surgery saved the patient's life, cured the meningitis and brought a recovery of a near normal hearing to the only hearing ear. Although demonstrating a rare etiology of intracranial complication, this case confirms that mastoidectomy, even on the only hearing ear, has to be done as early as possible to remove the source of infection, to prevent further intracranial complication, to arrest the progress of the ear disease and preserve or even recover almost normal hearing.
authors.affiliation: Otolaryngology Section, Lebanese University, Beirut.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saliba
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moukheiber
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wanna
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Moukarzel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nehme
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mansour
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007427:Intracranial Pressure; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008416:Mastoid / Q000601:surgery*; D008586:Meningitis, Pneumococcal / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014723:Vestibular Aqueduct / Q000473:pathology*