How to Manage Petrositis

Petrous apicitis is a rare but fatal complication of otitis media. An infection within the middle ear can extend within the temporal bone into the air cells of the petrous apex. With only the thin dura mater separating the trigeminal ganglion and the ...

The objective of this paper is to present and discuss the common features of temporal petrositis and the different approaches to its management. Petrositis used to be common before the antibiotic era. It can be associated with life-threatening complications. The management of this problem used to be by an aggressive surgical approach. However, recent reports are describing good results with more conservative medical treatment and minimal surgical intervention, with the reservation of more aggressive surgical interventions for chronic or refractory cases.

Mycotic aneurysm of the petrous temporal bone is extremely rare, with only 12 cases previously reported. We review the literature to date and present a case of petrositis complicated by a mycotic aneurysm of the internal carotid artery, which was managed by endovascular balloon occlusion and subsequent total petrosectomy. We can find no other case in the literature where balloon occlusion has been used to treat a mycotic aneurysm of the intrapetrous carotid artery prior to total petrosectomy to treat petrositis.