- mastoiditis
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/mas'toy duy"tis/, n. Pathol.inflammation of the mastoid process.[1885-90; MASTOID + -ITIS]
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Inflammation of the mastoid process, a bony projection just behind the ear, almost always due to otitis media.It may spread into small cavities in the bone, blocking their drainage. Very severe cases infect the whole middle ear cleft. It causes pain behind the ear and on the side of the head. Temperature and pulse rate may rise. Tissues over the bone may swell until an abscess develops, indicating destruction of the bone's outer layer. Complications of inward spread include abscess inside the skull, thrombosis, and inner-ear infection; meningitis is a serious danger. Now rare with treatment of otitis media, mastoiditis usually responds to early antibiotic treatment; if not, surgical drainage with removal of all diseased bone is necessary.* * *
inflammation of the mastoid process, a projection of the temporal bone just behind the ear. Mastoiditis, which primarily affects children, usually results from an infection of the middle ear ( otitis media). Symptoms include pain and swelling behind the ear and over the side of the head and fever. An abscess may develop; this indicates that the infection has eroded the bone and destroyed its outer layer. Mastoiditis may affect other structures within the cranium and produce complications including meningitis, abscesses of the dura mater covering the brain; infection or blood clots of the lateral sinus (the large blood channel emptying into the internal jugular vein); and infection of the labyrinth (the inner ear) containing the balance and hearing apparatus. Mastoiditis is a rare condition that is treated by the early administration of antibiotics (antibiotic). Surgical drainage and removal of diseased bone may be necessary if antibiotics are not successful.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
