A cute mastoiditis (AM) is an infectious disease of the temporal bone that can complicate acute otitis media (AOM). The incidence of AM in children younger than 14 years is estimated to be 1.2 to 4.2 per year in developed countries.¹ Despite modern antibiotherapy, AM may develop quickly and become life threatening, with extracranial and intracranial complications. Subperiosteal abscess (SA) is the most frequent complication of AM. In this case, most children undergo mastoidectomy.² The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that SA, a complication of AM, can be treated equally well by conservative management as by cortical mastoidectomy.

Introduction: The anatomy of the temporal bone (TB) can only be mastered by repeated surgical and anatomic dissections, and surgical teaching initiative had a major effect on outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the validity of an artificial TB model devoted to surgical training and education. Materials and Methods: A helical computed tomographic (CT) scan was used to acquire high-resolution data of cadaveric TB. Digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) data were converted into.stl files after data processing. Cadaveric TBs were prototyped using stereolithography. The validation of the prototype needed several steps. First of all, we have studied on CT scan the positional relationship between the facial nerve and other structures of the cadaveric TBs and prototyped bones. Otoendoscopy of the middle ear and the internal acoustic canal and visualization of anatomic landmarks during TB drilling of the cadaveric TBs and prototyped bones were also performed. Results: Seven normal CT scans of cadaveric TB were selected to make prototyped bone using stereolithography. Measurements of volume and distance showed no significant difference between prototypes and cadaver TBs. Classic mastoid surgical procedures were performed in the Anatomy Department: exposing sigmoid sinus, facial nerve, labyrinth, dura mater, jugular bulb, and internal carotid artery. Two simulations of implantable middle ear prosthesis were made successfully. Conclusion: These prototypes made using stereolithography seem to be a good anatomic model for surgical training. This model could also be interesting for surgical planning in congenital ear anomalies before middle ear prosthesis implantation.

Adults with single sided deafness (SSD) have lost binaural function, which limits sound source localization, speech understanding in noise, and quality of life. For SSD patients, restoration of bilateral auditory input is possible only with a cochlear implant (CI). In this study, cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) and behavioral performance were measured in left-implanted (SSD-CI-L) and right-implanted (SSD-CI-R) patients before and after cochlear implantation. We hypothesized that improvements in behavioral performance would be accompanied by changes in CAEPs after cochlear implantation. Prospective longitudinal study. Tertiary referral center. Nine right-handed adult SSD CI patients participated in the study. CAEPs were recorded before cochlear implantation and at 6 and 12 months post-implantation. CAEPs were elicited using speech stimuli (/ba/) delivered in sound field at 70 dBA. Global field power (GFP) latency and amplitude were calculated for P1, N1 and P2 peaks at each test session. CAEP were analyzed at frontocentral (Cz) and temporal (P7, P8, T7 and T8) and mastoid electrodes (M1 and M2) contralateral to the CI ear. Behavioral measures (sentence recognition in noise, with and without spatial cues) were collected at the same test sessions as for CAEPs. Speech performance and CAEPs were also measured in a control group of normal-hearing (NH) subjects. While increased N1 amplitude was observed in the scalp potential maps for GFP and Cz for SSD-CI-L patients after implantation, the changes were not statistically significant. Peak CAEP amplitude at electrodes to contralateral to the CI ear increased after cochlear implantation for all SSD-CI patients, but significant increases were observed only for mastoid sites. Peak latencies for some components at temporal and mastoid sites remained significantly longer than for the NH control group, even after cochlear implantation. For SSD-CI-R patients, P2 peak amplitude for baseline GFP and Cz was significantly lower than for the NH control group. A significant improvement for speech understanding in noise was observed at 12 months post-implantation when speech was presented to the CI ear and noise to the non-implanted ear. After cochlear implantation, speech understanding significantly improved when speech and noise were spatially separated. The increased N1 amplitude for SSD-CI-L patients and the increased bilateral activation for all SSD-CI patients may reflect cortical reorganization and restoration of binaural function after one year of experience with the CI. However, because of the limited number of SSD patients, significant changes in cortical activity after cochlear implantation were often difficult to observe.