acute mastoiditis

In acute mastoiditis, infection may spread outside of the mastoid bone and cause serious health complications.

Sir William, a famous Dublin ear surgeon, once described the sensation of operating on bone eaten away by acute mastoiditis as "sinking a knife deep into ripe Stilton cheese."

Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis are the most common organisms recovered in acute mastoiditis.