title: Pneumocephalus in cerebellopontine angle and meningitis secondary to chronic otitis media in a child.
abstract: Pneumocephalus is a rare complication of chronic otitis media. Despite its rarity intra-cranial air carries a potential risk of increased intra-cranial pressure or meningitis, which requires immediate therapy. A 10-year-old child presented to us with complaints of fever, headache, vomiting, and decreased hearing from left ear. He had history of left ear discharge since 2 years. Clinical examination revealed neck rigidity and left chronic otitis media. Contrast enhanced computed axial tomography scan of head [Figures 1 and 2] showed pneumocephalus in left cerebellopontine angle, opacification of left middle ear and nonpneumatisation of left mastoid. Child was immediately put on empirical intravenous antibiotics and decongestants. He showed clinical improvement in 3 days. Pneumocephalus secondary to chronic otitis media is extremely rare; we are reporting one such case in a child with review of literature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Shailendra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ratre
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Yadram
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Sushma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choudhary
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Vijay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Parihar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Yatin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kher
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Ketan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hedaoo
keywords: Meningitis; neurogenic complications; otitis media; pneumocephalus