2019 Volume 35 Issue 2 Pages 139-142
An inner ear malformation that causes congenital deafness, can be associated with cerebrospinal fluid leakage, which is a well-known major cause of recurrent meningitis in childhood. We encountered a case of pneumococcal meningoencephalitis in a 5-year-old girl. She had been diagnosed with hearing loss and inner ear malformation by temporal bone computed tomography (CT), when she was 2 years old. She presented with consciousness disturbance and hemiplegia. Brain CT and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed marked brain edema and a high-intensity signal in the left frontoparietal operculum, respectively. Since the earlier temporal bone CT scan had revealed a cerebrospinal fistula, she was considered to be at risk of recurrent meningitis; thus, she underwent inner ear reconstruction surgery. Since the surgical intervention, she has been free from meningitis. It is important to check for concomitant cerebrospinal fistulae and evaluate the risk of meningitis in the management of patients with inner ear malformations.
