RECURRENT THERAPY-RESISTANT MASTOIDITIS BY MYCOBACTERIUM-CHEILONAE-ABSCESSUS, A NONTUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIUM

A rare case of recurrent mastoiditis is described with abscess formati on caused by a nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) Mycobacterium chelon ae abscessus. The exceptionally slow wound healing after repeated surg ical debridement was striking. A literature study showed that in contr ast with NTM infections of other parts of the body, infections of the middle ear were most commonly seen in immunocompetent children. If a c ase of chronic unilateral otitis media shows insufficient response to antibiotic therapy and surgical debridement, mycobacterial infection s hould be considered. The case described below illustrates the importan ce of histopathological and microbiological investigations. (C) 1998 E lsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.