Mastoiditis and sudden hearing loss

[GaryBrown]

My name is Gary Brown and here is my case history any inputs would be great.

5 months ago I had a sudden drop in my hearing and was given cortisone injections into the ear through a grommet hole. I had couple of relapses but eventually they stabilized the hearing within normal limits. However during this time of multiple injection into the grommet hole I picked up a middle ear infection or rather a mastoiditis. When going for a CT scan before the infection it showed fluid bubbles in the mastoid which was attributed to the cortisone injections. But recently went for CT scan after the initial infection (which filled the entire middle) and it showed that only the mastoid and attic of the middle ear have fluid in them. For the initial treatment of the ear infection I was put on 1g Meropenum IV for 1 week this was due to the fact that I didn't react to the oral antibiotics.

My question is it seems like Meropenum IV cleared up most of the infection but not all. Should I ask my ENT to prolong treatment?As I have heard treatment regimes on antibiotics for a month at a time, specially for mastoiditis. When I wake up in the morning at the moment I have little bit of pus in the ear nothing like it used to be. I can also feel it coming from the attic of the ear just this thin trail of fluid.

Thank s for your time and would be great to get someone's opinion.

[GaryBrown]

Dear Paderla

Not going fantastically.

So here is the story. I went on Merrum IV for a week and that got rid of the main infection. The itself is bone dry. We then did scans of the mastoid and there is still fluid in the mastoid but many airspaces as well. ENT says this will clear in time. In your opinion should Zi continue with the antibiotics?

My main concern now is that I have terrible hearing loss due to the swelling in the attic of the ear that is pressing on the ossicles. Shows up on the CT scan. Would it be correct to treat this aggresively with cortisone or just leave it to clear on its own? I am also concerned abouting getting an edema around those ossicles. This is my only good ear so need to keep it healthy.

A second opinion would be great. Thanks.

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Mastoid infection is difficult to eradicate. Have a culture and sensitivity test done to find out the correct antibiotic that the infecting organism is sensitive to and taking this medication for the required amount of days may help to clear infection. Also have a repeat scan to check if infection has cleared. Treatment will have to be continued until it is totally eradicated.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.