Otogenic brain abscess: A rising trend of cerebellar abscess an institutional study

Abstract

Chronic inflammation of the middle ear is the most frequent cause of otogenic complications. Meningitis is the most frequent intracranial complications, followed by otogenic brain abscess in neglected otitis media. Although temporal lobe abscesses are more common than cerebellar abscesses, the converse was found to be true in our series of 17 cases. 16 cases of cerebellar abscess and 1 case of temporal lobe abscess were reported as a complication of chronic otitis media (COM). In our group of patients, otogenic brain abscesses were more frequent in male patients of age group 5–20 years with mean age of 14 years. Diagnostic procedure included history, clinical, otorhinolaryngological examination, audiological, microbiological, neurological, ophthalmological, and radiological examinations. The treatment included primary neurosurgical approach (abscess drainage) followed by radical otosurgical treatment.