Two cases of skull base osteomyelitis in elderly patients after mastoidectomy

Skull base osteomyelitis (SBO) is a rare disease and may develop as a complication of paranasal sinusitis or other regional infectious process. The characteristic symptom of SBO is headache and paralysis of cranial nerve. A potentially life-threatening disease, it requires aggressive antibiotic treatment. We present 2 cases of SBO. One case who were not immunocompromised or diabetics had paralysis of lower cranial nerves. The patient was effectively treated with complete mastoidectomy and antibiotics, so had a complete recovery. But, the other patient who were insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus was died due to meningitis and pons palsy.