Inner ear and stapes malformation associated with recurrent bacterial meningitis : Report of a case

• Published in: jibi to rinsho Vol. 61; no. 4; pp. 135 - 139
• Main Authors: HIGUCHI, Hitomi, NISHI, Souichirou, NAKAGAWA, Takashi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: JIBI TO RINSHO KAI 20.07.2015; 耳鼻と臨床会
• Subjects: 内耳形態異常; 内耳窓閉鎖術; 細菌性髄膜炎
• ISSN: 0447-7227; 2185-1034
• DOI: 10.11334/jibi.61.4_135

The patient was a 28-year old female who was admitted to a local general hospital to be treated for recurrent meningitis. Cisternography images suggested leakage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and temporal CT showed an abnormal morphology of the right inner ear that had probably caused the repeated meningitis. The patient was referred to our hospital. A temporal CT scan taken in the hospital showed the full and half-rotation of the cochlea, lateral semicircular canal hypoplasia, ballooning of the internal auditory canal, and communication with the vestibule of the inner ear due to a bony defect in the fundus of the internal acoustic meatus. These findings suggested that the recurrent meningitis had been caused by an abnormal morphology of the inner ear and a bony defect in the fundus of the internal acoustic meatus. Inner ear closure was performed to prevent a relapse of the bacterial meningitis. An aggregate of soft tissue that was obtained from the postauricular area was gradually placed into the region. The leak was completely stopped by placing two pieces of the soft tissue aggregate that were bigger than the oval window. The inner ear window was thus expected to be tightly sealed due to the CSF pressure that was generated when the filling materials were compressed.