A rare infectious presentation of a temporal bone meningioma

Abstract

To the Editor, En plaque meningiomas of the temporal bone commonly have years of delay in diagnosis due to the chronic nature of the presenting symptoms, which include serous otitis media and aural fullness, and the lack of compressive symptoms seen with bulky mass tumors [1]. We present a rare case of an en plaque temporal bone meningioma with an acute and critical presentation secondary to infectious processes that were a direct result of local invasion. Bacterial meningitis, brain abscess, and mastoiditis with secondary septic thrombosis were the salient presenting features in this case. This presentation is very atypical of temporal bone meningiomas, but failure to recognize these associations can result in missed diagnosis in critically-ill patients.