Skull base Osteomyelitis: challenges and Therapy outcomes.

Objective Skull base Osteomyelitis is a rare but life threatening condition. It mostly arises as a complication of malignant otitis externa. It presents commonly in elderly patients with poorly managed Diabetes mellitus, and immunocompromised patients. The aim of the study is to evaluate the recent Therapy options.

Methods In our retrospective study, we compared the clinical outcome of patients who were diagnosed clinically and radiologically with skull base osteomyelitis and were treated in a tertiary care university hospital over a 5 years period.

Results A total of 14 patients were included in the study with a mean age of 77 years (12 Men, 2 Women). The most common presenting symptoms were Otorrhea, pain and cranial nerve palsy. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was present as a causative organism in 50 % of the cases and in 20 % of the cases MRSA was isolated. 100 % of patients have had diabetes mellitus and Hypertension. 75 % of the patients needed a surgical debridement as an Additional Therapy to the intravenous antibiotics. The overall mortality averaged 50 %.

Conclusion Skull base osteomyelitis is associated with high mortality and it requires early identification, prolonged and aggressive Therapy. The Disease poses a challenge in therapy as more patients present with antimicrobial resistant organisms and with many risk factors.

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Publication History

Article published online:
10 June 2020