MarylandAre you in Maryland?
Change location

Web privacy policy

We take your privacy seriously, and we want you to know how we collect, use, share and protect your information.

This policy applies to Mapviser.com.


What information we collect

Information you give us: We respect the right to privacy of all visitors to the Mapviser.com.

We receive and store information you enter on our site or give us in any other way, such as name, email address and phone number. This includes information you submit on forms, such as appointment request forms. Some forms collect sensitive information, such as health information, necessary for us to provide our services to you.

Information we collect automatically: When you interact with our sites and email newsletters, certain information about your use of our sites and interaction with our email newsletters is automatically collected. This information includes computer and connection information, such as statistics on your page views, traffic to and from our sites, referral URL, ad data, your IP address, and device identifiers. This information also may include your transaction history, and your web log information, how you search for our sites, the websites you click on from our sites or emails, whether and when you open our emails, and your browsing activities across other websites.

Much of this information is collected through cookies, web beacons and other tracking technologies, as well as through your web browser or device (e.g., IP address, MAC address, browser version, etc.).

Email communications, newsletter and related services


We use the information we collect for things like:

Optimizing the performance and user experience of our sites

  • Operating, evaluating and improving our business.
  • Fulfilling orders and requests for products, services or information.
  • Processing returns and exchanges.
  • Tracking and confirming online orders.
  • Delivering or installing products.
  • Marketing and advertising products and services, including by inferring your interests from your interactions with our websites and newsletters, and tailoring advertisements, newsletters, and offers to you (both on our websites and on other websites) based on your interactions with us in our stores and online interests.
  • Sending you email newsletters.
  • Conducting research and analysis.
  • Communicating with you about your account, special events and surveys.
  • Establishing and managing your accounts with us.

Data retention

We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.

We may share information with third parties.

We may share the information we collect about you with third parties who we have engaged to help us provide the services, or they may collect information about you directly when you interact with them.

Third parties may collect information such as IP addresses, traffic patterns and related information. This data reflects site-usage patterns gathered during visits to our website each month or newsletter subscribers' interactions with our newsletters.

We may also use or disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or on the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) conform to applicable law or comply with legal process served on us or our sites; (b) protect and defend our rights or property, the sites, or our users; or (c) act to protect the personal safety of us, users of the sites or the public.


Protecting children's privacy

We are committed to protecting children's privacy on the internet, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.


Links to other websites

Our websites link to other websites, many of which have their own privacy policies. Be sure to review the privacy policy on the site you're visiting.

Diseases

Select one category
Dermatology
Immune system
Lungs & pulmonary
Bones Muscles Joints
Digestive
Hormones
Kidney & bladder
Sex & reproductive
Mouth & Dental
Brain & Nervous System
Heart & Blood Vessels
Ear, Nose And Throat
Skin & cosmetic
Eyes & vision
All category
Find a disease by its first letter
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Mastoiditis

Mastoiditis is the inflammation of a portion of the temporal bone. This bone is located right behind the ear. It contains tiny cavities called mastoid air cells which are connected with the middle ear cavity. Normally, the air cells and middle air contain only moisturizing fluid produced by epithelial cells. But if there is an infection of the ear, the bacteria may crawl into the air cells and start mastoiditis. In rare cases the infection starts in the air cells without causing ear infection.

In this article:


Mastoiditis Treatments

Mastoiditis treatment is urgent and needs to be done under a medical professional guidance. In many situations acute mastoiditis requires a visit to the ER and hospitalization. An intravenous antibiotic is the first line of treatment, together with IV fluids and pain medications.

Fast treatment brings usually good recovery without further complications or need for surgery. In a complicated situation with the abscess, a surgery to drain the abscess is done.

In the situations with chronic ear infections an ear tube placement is offered. This creates an opening to the middle ear through the tympanic membrane.

It is important to address an overall health of a child or an adult who developed a mastoiditis, which is considered a rare infection. An immunologist should be involved to check if there is no immunodeficiency.

Does vaccine prevent mastoiditis?

The introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) in 2000, subsequently replaced by a polyvalent version (PCV13), has certainly reduced the incidence of pneumococcal infections and consequently of an ear infection. Surprisingly, no decrease has been reported in the incidence of acute mastoiditis after vaccination, probably due to a different pneumococcal bacteria. However, pneumococcal vaccination is always recommended in young children to avoid at least recurrent ear infections, which lead to mastoiditis development. 

Conservative treatment is recommended even in some cases of more serious neurological or vascular complications (intracranial abscesses or lateral sinus thrombosis), in which the medical treatment with broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotic agents, anticoagulants and/or corticosteroids are often effective.


Antibiotics

In the uncomplicated forms of AM, antibiotic therapy is the main treatment. Mastoiditis necessitates a middle ear culture for a more specific choice of antibiotic. Considering the high incidence of S. pneumoniae and its specific sensitivity to cephalosporins (less frequently to penicillins), this antibiotic, in particular, Ceftriaxone sodium, is widely used in the treatment of AM, always administered intravenously in hospitalized patients. 

The treatment with different antibiotics (amoxicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, erythromycin, etc), orally administrated, often proves to be ineffective and may even predispose to complications.


Surgery

Ear tubes

Many specialists agree on the need for an ear tube placement(myringotomy ± tympanostomy). Such procedure should be considered in the cases of AM without spontaneous TM perforation (most often verified in children < 24 months) or AM of children with recurrent ear infections and chronic ear infections

Insertion of tympanostomy tubes is the most common ambulatory surgery performed on children in the United States. Tympanostomy tubes are most often inserted because of persistent middle ear fluid, frequent ear infections, or ear infections that persist after antibiotic therapy.

Mastoidectomy

Mastoidectomy is a surgical procedure of the temporal bone that opens postauricular air cells by removing the thin bony partitions between them. Each mastoidectomy is unique because of the variable pneumatization patterns of the temporal bone. Pathology can also limit the pneumatization of the mastoid cells and further complicate the mastoidectomy procedure.

ENT surgeons suggest that more aggressive surgical procedures, such as mastoidectomy, neurosurgical procedures, etc, are undoubtedly indicated in more severe complications, in particular when intratemporal, endocranial or vascular structures are seriously involved. Here are some complications that will almost always warrant surgical treatment:

  • Extracranial (subperiosteal abscess, Bezold’s abscess) 
  • Intratemporal (facial nerve palsy, labyrinthitis) 
  • Intracranial (subdural abscess)

Surgical procedures are also performed in all cases in which CT scan showed a serious impairment of the mastoid bone, and to cure a chronic infection. 

After surgery

The timing and success of recovery depends on the extent of the surgery. The ear tubes is an ambulatory procedure with almost no need for any postsurgical observation. The mastoidectomy is a complicated scull surgery that affects many important structures of the head and neck. It requires general anesthesia, and will have longer recovery.

You should expect postsurgical recovery to be under observation of the medical staff in the hospital. Dependent on the severity of the infection, it may require the hospitalization in the intensive care unit (ICU or PICU). 

After mastoiditis is treated, you will need to establish follow-up visits with the ENT surgeon and hearing specialist to make sure complications do not develop.  Hearing test will show if there are any hearing loss following an ear infection with mastoiditis.


References

Antibiotic therapy for children with acute otitis media. Sakulchit T, Goldman RD.Can Fam Physician. 2017 Sep;63(9):685-687.PMID: 28904032 Free PMC article. Review.

Pneumococcal Disease in the Era of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine. Yildirim I, Shea KM, Pelton SI.Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2015 Dec;29(4):679-97. doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2015.07.009.PMID: 26610421 Free PMC article. Review.

Acute mastoiditis in children. Cassano P, Ciprandi G, Passali D.Acta Biomed. 2020 Feb 17;91(1-S):54-59. doi: 10.23750/abm.v91i1-S.9259.PMID: 32073562 Free PMC article. Review.

Panel 7: Otitis Media: Treatment and Complications. Schilder AG, Marom T, Bhutta MF, Casselbrant ML, Coates H, Gisselsson-Solén M, Hall AJ, Marchisio P, Ruohola A, Venekamp RP, Mandel EM.Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2017 Apr;156(4_suppl):S88-S105. doi: 10.1177/0194599816633697.PMID: 28372534 Free article. Review.

Mastoidectomy. Kennedy KL, Lin JW.2021 Jul 26. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan–.PMID: 32644579 Free Books & Documents. Review.

Indications and technique in mastoidectomy. Bennett M, Warren F, Haynes D.. Otolaryngol Clin North Am. 2006 Dec;39(6):1095-113. – PubMed

Find pros in all 51 states

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of Columbia
FloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentucky
LouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontana
NebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhio
OklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtah
VermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming
AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of Columbia
FloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentucky
LouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontana
NebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhio