Ophthalmic complications of otitis media in children

Purpose To evaluate the outcome of ophthalmic complications in children with otitis media. Methods The records of children with ophthalmic complications arising from otitis media who presented to the British Columbia Children's Hospital between August 2006 and March 2008 were reviewed retrospectively. Results Of 1,400 patients presenting to the emergency department for otitis media during the study period, 7 with ophthalmic complications were identified (age range, 1-11 years). All patients had abducens nerve palsy on presentation. Other notable ophthalmic complications included papilledema, Horner syndrome, and proptosis. Extracranial and intracranial complications included mastoiditis, petrositis, parapharyngeal abscess, hydrocephalus, epidural abscess, and cerebral venous thrombosis, including cavernous sinus thrombosis in 2. Of the 7 patients, 6 were treated with surgery, including myringotomy and tube placement (6 patients) and mastoidectomy (3 patients). All patients were initially anticoagulated and received intravenous antibiotics. Satisfactory final visual outcomes and stereopsis ranging from 40 to 100 seconds were achieved in all patients. Conclusions Ophthalmic complications of otitis media in children are likely to include abducens palsy. All patients in our series required anticoagulation and intravenous antibiotics. Most required otolaryngologic surgery, but none required strabismus surgery, and all patients had satisfactory visual and ocular motility outcomes.