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
. 2020 Dec 9;13(12):e237606.
doi: 10.1136/bcr-2020-237606.

Tuberculous mastoiditis in a 2-month-old infant presenting with facial nerve palsy

Affiliations
Case Reports

Tuberculous mastoiditis in a 2-month-old infant presenting with facial nerve palsy

David McMaster et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

We present a rare case of tuberculous mastoiditis in a 2-month-old infant. The patient presented with facial nerve palsy, fever and otorrhoea and was subsequently confirmed to have a Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Mastoiditis was confirmed with a CT scan of the head, and gastric aspirate analysis with the Xpert MTB/RIF assay (Cepheid, USA) rapidly confirmed tuberculosis (TB), allowing prompt initiation of anti-TB therapy. The patient is now recovering, with the initial facial nerve palsy resolved.

Keywords: Infectious diseases; TB and other respiratory infections; ear; nose and throat/otolaryngology; paediatrics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

References

    1. Laulajainen-Hongisto A, Saat R, Lempinen L, et al. . Children hospitalized due to acute otitis media: how does this condition differ from acute mastoiditis? Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2015;79:1429–35. 10.1016/j.ijporl.2015.06.019 - DOI - PubMed
    1. van den Aardweg MTA, Rovers MM, de Ru JA, et al. . A systematic review of diagnostic criteria for acute mastoiditis in children. Otol Neurotol 2008;29:751–7. 10.1097/MAO.0b013e31817f736b - DOI - PubMed
    1. British Society of Otology Acute mastoiditis guideline, 2020. Available: https://www.entuk.org/sites/default/files/files/Mastoiditis%20flowchart%... [Accessed 13 June 2020].
    1. Nathani DAA, Chandran DR, Parakh DH, et al. . A rare case of facial palsy caused by tuberculosis in 1 month old infant. Int J Med Res Rev 2015;3:441–3. 10.17511/ijmrr.2015.i4.077 - DOI
    1. Aldana-Aguirre JC, El-Hakim H, Phillipos E, et al. . Congenital tuberculosis presenting as otorrhoea in a preterm infant. BMJ Case Rep 2018;2016:bcr2017221797 10.1136/bcr-2017-221797 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances