Syphilitic mastoiditis, or Mastoiditis Syphilitic (MS), is a purulent inflammatory process in the parotid bone (parietal bone of the skull). The disease appears against the background of infection with syphilis. The doctor who made such a diagnosis faces a difficult task: he must fight the disease, and to do this, eliminate the infectious causative agent of the disease and stop the course of the pathological process.
Mastoiditis is divided into groups depending on the pathomorphological changes in the parotid bones and the contents of the bursae. Acute purulent processes in all cases begin with damage to the epithelial cells of the skin near the ear canal and eventually spread to the surrounding bone tissue. The areas on the outer surface of the bone where ulcers began to develop are delimited from healthy tissue by an infiltrate, which prevents the spread of the pathogenic process beyond its boundaries. Thus, the infection continues to occupy the space of the maxillofacial bone canal. The area of skin behind the ear canal usually swells and eventually becomes connected to the bone, that is, an abscess is formed.
The picture of acute inflammation of the parotid bone is as follows. Redness and pain appear around the middle ear, body temperature rises, swelling and enlarged regional lymph nodes appear. In parallel, insomnia, headaches, nausea, redness and rash on the skin may appear. In the ear canals, which were already experiencing increased secretion of serous fluid, an unpleasant odor can be detected. With this disease, the pus does not subside. This can lead to serious complications, such as the formation of inflammatory infiltrates due to melting of the surrounding space. Such processes can lead to the formation of fistulas both intravenously and externally near the ear canals. The development of an abscess in the subperiosteal bone structures lying below the external auditory canal and at its entrance is the most unfavorable course of mastoid disease.