Mastoiditis
Definition
Mastoiditis is a bacterial infection of the air cells in the mastoid bone of the skull. Mastoiditis most commonly affects children. Before the use of antibiotics, mastoiditis was one of the leading causes of death in children. As of the early 2000s, it is a relatively uncommon and much less dangerous disorder.
Description
Mastoiditis is usually a consequence of a middle ear infection called acute otitis media (AOM). The infection may spread from the ear to the mastoid bone of the skull, which is the bony bump off the base of the skull, located just behind the ears slightly above the level of the earlobe. The mastoid bone...
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