Mastoiditis historical perspective

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief:

Historical Perspective

Otitis media and mastoiditis evidently have been present in the human race for centuries.

Lynn and Benitez (1974) found it among ancient Egyptians, and

Rathbun and Mallin (1977)noted it in a prehistoric Iranian popula-

tion.

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decades before antibiotics when the simple or complete mastoidectomy was performed in cases of acute mastoiditis in which abscess formation was suspected; such timely surgery after prevented extensive osseous destruction and also often-fatal meningitis and sinus thrombosis. So-called "radical" surgery began when surgeons realized that simple exposure of the antrum was inadequate to control chronic infection involving the middle ear, ossicles, and meatal walls. "Modified radical" surgery evolved from the attempt to preserve hearing, canal plasty from the attempt to prevent postoperative canal stricture. Politzer describes the surgery designed to close the tympanic ostium of the Eustachian tube and the application of skin grafts to the operative sites.