Dysphagia due to necrotizing otitis externa.

Rajesh Dwivedi, Melroy Rasquinha, Rowan Harwood

Age and ageing 2021 May 05

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An 88-year-old man presented with delirium, and subsequently developed hoarseness and oropharyngeal dysphagia. This was due to skull-based osteomyelitis from necrotizing otitis externa (NOE), causing lower cranial nerve (X, XII) palsies and venous sinus thrombosis. Diagnosis was delayed as the patient reported no otalgia, had an almost normal looking external auditory canal and was not diabetic. He deteriorated and died despite intravenous antibiotics. We need a high index of suspicion for NOE and its complications in patients presenting with otolaryngeal symptoms. © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.