Mastoiditis secondary to metastatic lung carcinoma: case report and literature review.

OBJECTIVE

We present a case report and systematic review of acute mastoiditis caused by metastatic lung cancer.

CASE REPORT: A 62-year-old woman developed acute mastoiditis as a complication of otitis media. Cortical mastoidectomy revealed deposits of metastatic non-small cell lung carcinoma around the sigmoid sinus. The patient had previously received treatment for lung cancer, but was thought to be in remission.

DISCUSSION: A literature review confirmed that this is the first reported case of mastoiditis caused by metastatic lung cancer. Only four similar case reports were identified: two caused by breast carcinoma, one by renal cell carcinoma and one by cholangiocarcinoma. Post-mortem histopathological studies suggest that temporal bone metastasis occurs in 22 per cent of oncology cases.

CONCLUSION

This is the first reported case of mastoiditis caused by metastatic lung cancer. Metastasis to the temporal bone is not uncommon, but rarely causes mastoiditis.