T cell lymphoma of the ear presenting as mastoiditis.

Mastoiditis is a complication of otitis media characterized by suppuration and destruction of air cell septa in the mastoid and petrous pyramid. Diagnosis is made by clinical findings and computerized tomography (CT) of the temporal bone. We present a patient initially diagnosed by CT as having chronic mastoiditis who was subsequently shown to have an unusual large-cell malignant lymphoma of T cell type.