Neurotologic Complications of Chronic Otitis Media with Cholesteatoma

Chronic suppurative otitis media, infection of the middle ear, is a common disease in the developing countries and the complications associated with it still pose a major problem in the developing countries. The proximity of the middle ear cleft and mastoid air cells to the extracranial and intracranial compartments places structures located in these areas at increased risk of infectious complications. Complications are seen more in the rural population than in urban population. Despite the fact that incidence of chronic suppurative otitis media related complications has significantly decreased since the introduction of antibiotics this clinical problem has not been eliminated yet. The neurotologic complications of chronic suppurative otitis media remains a serious concern, particularly in developing countries and socioeconomically poor regions. Chronic suppurative otitis media is broadly classified into tubotympanic (otitis media without cholesteatoma) and atticoantral (otitis media with cholesteatoma) types. The complications of chronic suppurative otitis media are divided into extracranial complications and intracranial complications. Neurotologic complications are more common in patients having otitis media with cholesteatoma than in patients with otitis media without cholesteatoma. Many researchers have shown that majority of subjects who had neurotologic complications due to chronic suppurative otitis media were found to have cholesteatoma. This prospective study was undertaken to study the neurotologic complications of chronic suppurative otitis media with cholesteatoma.