Incidence of non-infectious 'acute mastoiditis' in children.
OBJECTIVE
The temporal bone may be the first involved site in cases of systemic disease, and may even present with acute, mastoiditis-like symptomatology. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of such non-infectious 'acute mastoiditis' in children.


METHODS
Retrospective chart review of 73 children admitted to a tertiary referral centre for acute mastoiditis.


RESULTS
In 71 cases (97.3 per cent), an infectious basis was identified. In the majority of cases (33 of 73; 45 per cent), the responsible bacteria was Streptococcus pneumoniae. However, histopathological studies revealed a non-infectious underlying disease (myelocytic leukaemia or Langerhans' cell histiocytosis) in two atypical cases (2.7 per cent).


CONCLUSIONS
'Acute mastoiditis' of non-infectious aetiology is a rare but real threat for children, and a challenging diagnosis for otologists. A non-infectious basis should be suspected in every atypical, persistent or recurrent case of acute mastoiditis.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hanover Medical University, Germany. Kontorinis.Georgios@mh-hannover.de
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Kontorinis
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Psarommatis
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Karabinos
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Iliodromiti
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Tsakanikos
D000208:Acute Disease; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006646:Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008417:Mastoiditis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000150:complications*; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013701:Temporal Bone / Q000473:pathology