Acute mastoiditis in children: Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a leading pathogen.

OBJECTIVE: Acute mastoiditis is a serious bacterial infection of the temporal bone and is the most common complication of otitis media. The goal of this study is to assess the clinical features, pathogens, management, and outcome of acute mastoiditis in children in northern Israel.

METHODS: A systematic review of medical records of all children who were admitted with acute mastoiditis from January 1990 through December 2000.

RESULTS: Fifty-seven children were included. Median was age: 36 months. In 26 patients (45.6%) mastoiditis complicated the first episode of acute otitis media (AOM). Twenty-five children (44%) received antibiotic treatment prior to admission. Frequent symptoms included mastoid area erythema in 54 children (94.7%), proptosis of the auricle in 52 children (91.2%) and fever in 43 children (75.4%). Middle ear, and subperiostal culture yielded growth of pathogen in 30 children (75%), two cultures yielded more then one pathogen. The most frequent pathogens were: Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 10 children (25%), Streptococcus pneumoniae in eight children (20%), Group A streptococcus in six children (15%). The highest incidence of Streptococcus pneumoniae was found in children who did not suffer from AOM before admission (35 vs. 5%). Fifty-two (91.2%) children were cured with antibiotic treatment alone. Seventeen children underwent computed tomography (CT) of the mastoid. Mastoid bone destruction was demonstrated in six children and subperiostal abscess in eight. Mastoidectomy was performed in five children.

CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of acute mastoiditis can be made on clinical basis alone requiring CT only when complications are suspected. Half of the children admitted with acute mastoiditis had no previous history of recurrent AOM. In those children S. pneumoniae was the leading pathogen while P. aeruginosa was more prevalent in children with recurrent AOM. Most of the children recovered with medical therapy alone, without surgical intervention.