A 45-year-old woman is diagnosed with chronic suppurative otitis media with cholesteatoma in the right ear. Intraoperatively, the surgeon finds a pearly white mass eroding into the tegmen. Which complication is being directly threatened by this erosion?

• A Lateral sinus thrombophlebitis
• B Labyrinthitis due to semicircular canal erosion
• C Facial nerve palsy at the second genu
• D Extradural abscess in the middle cranial fossa ✓

Explanation

The tegmen tympani is the thin bony roof of the middle ear separating it from the middle cranial fossa. Erosion of the tegmen by cholesteatoma can lead to an extradural (epidural) abscess in the middle cranial fossa. Lateral sinus thrombophlebitis results from posterior tegmen or mastoid plate erosion. Labyrinthitis follows horizontal semicircular canal erosion, not tegmen.

Reference: Dhingra Diseases of Ear, Nose and Throat, 7th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.