Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2017 Mar 27:2017:bcr2016218420.
doi: 10.1136/bcr-2016-218420.

Fungal malignant otitis externa

Philippe Frederick Bowles  1 , Victoria Perkins  2 , Eyal Schechter  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Fungal malignant otitis externa

Philippe Frederick Bowles et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

An 89-year-old man presented to the outpatient clinic with a 2-month history of persistent unilateral left-sided otalgia, otorrhoea and reduced hearing despite oral and topical antibiotics. Treatment was protracted, requiring a 4-month hospital admission for intravenous antifungal medication as well as 3 further months of oral antifungal treatment. We describe the clinical presentation, complications and treatment of this potentially fatal condition in the context of an unusual, and easily missed, causative organism.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
CT scan of temporal bones showing destructive middle ear disease surrounding ear canal ring of the left temporal bone.
Figure 2
Figure 2
MRI with contrast showing disease involvement of the left hypoglossal canal.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mani N, Sudhoff H, Rajagopal S et al. . Cranial nerve involvement in malignant external otitis: implications for clinical outcome. Laryngoscope 2007;117:907–10. 10.1097/MLG.0b013e318039b30f - DOI - PubMed
    1. Guevara N, Mahdyoun P, Pulcini C et al. . Initial management of necrotizing external otitis: errors to avoid. Eur Ann Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Dis 2013;130:115–21. 10.1016/j.anorl.2012.04.011 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bhat V, Aziz A, Bhandary SK et al. . Malignant otitis externa: a retrospective study of 15 patients treated in a tertiary healthcare center. J Int Adv Otol 2015;11:72–6. 10.5152/iao.2015.430 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rubin Grandis JR, Branstetter BF IV, Yu VL. Malignant external otitis the changing face of malignant (necrotising) external otitis: clinical, radiological, and anatomic correlations. Lancet Infect Dis 2004;4:34–9. 10.1016/S1473-3099(03)00858-2 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hamzany Y, Soudry E, Preis M et al. . Fungal malignant external otitis. J Infect 2011;62:226–31. 10.1016/j.jinf.2011.01.001 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Substances