Invasive aspergillosis of the temporal bone

Abstract

Invasive aspergillosis of temporal bone, an extremely rare yet potentially life-threatening disease entity, occurs mostly in immuno-compromised individuals. We report a case of a 65-year-old diabetic male who presented with bilateral ear discharge, bilateral subepithelial ear masses, and progressive left facial palsy of recent onset. The biopsy specimen taken from either side after surgical debridement revealed only nonspecific inflammatory granulation tissue, but the culture of the tissue was positive for Aspergillus flavus. Invasive aspergillosis was confirmed by demonstration of the fungi in the tissues with Gomori-Methanamine Silver staining. The patient was hence put on long-term Itraconazole therapy and is presently doing well. The possibility of invasive fungal otitis always needs to be considered as a differential diagnosis in immuno-compromised patients presenting with atypical otomastoiditis so as to diagnose this rare condition at an early stage to reduce the delay in the treatment and prevent its possible complications such as skull base osteomyelitis and progressive cranial nerve palsies.