THE SILENT EPIDURAL ABSCESS AS A COMPLICATION OF ACUTE OTITIS-MEDIA IN CHILDREN

Acute otitis media with complications is a persistent problem in the m odern antibiotic era with a relatively high mortality rate. Acute mast oiditis is a serious complication of acute otitis media with potential ly grave consequences and the epidural abscess constitutes the commone st of all intracranial complications, arising from middle ear infectio ns. We report two cases of children with acute mastoiditis without evi dence of intracranial complication or subperiosteal abscess, in whom t he early evaluation with computed tomography (CT) disclosed an unsuspe cted epidural abscess. Therefore, we stress the use of CT as a rule of thumb for every child with acute mastoiditis. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scien ce ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.