Skull Base 2007; 17 - A102
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-984037

Current Management of Malignant Otitis Externa

A. D Cheesman 1(presenter)
  • 1London, UK

We consider malignant otitis externa to be a skull base infection. The usual causative organism is recognized as Pseudomonas pyocyanea, but we strongly believe that there is an adjunctive anaerobic infection in all of these cases.

Modern imaging with both conventional CT and MRI scans plus the use of nuclear medicine scans allow the diagnosis to be confirmed and give us a better understanding of the underlying pathology. Our current management of these difficult cases is presented along with our experience in the use of metronidazole as well as the usual antibiotics used to eradicate the Pseudomonas pyocyanea.