Nazia Mehfooz

Malignant otitis externa with ecthyma gangrenosum and pneumonia in an infant.

Necrotizing (malignant) external otitis, an infection involving the temporal and adjacent bones, is a relatively rare complication of external otitis. Ecthyma gangrenosum is a rare and invasive cutaneous infection caused by pseudomonas in the majority of cases. Pseudomonal pneumonia typically occurs in a patient who is immunocompromised and is found to be the most common cause of hospital acquired pneumonia. We report a rare case of a previously healthy 5 month old infant developing transient neutropenia, presenting to us with malignant otitis externa, ecthyma gangrenosum and pneumonia but without bacteraemia.

Pediatric Deep Neck Space Abscesses: A Prospective Observational Study

Pediatric patients with deep neck space abscesses were prospectively followed from 2009 to 2011 in SKIMS MC and Peoples care polyclinic. Observational data were collected regarding age, location and size of abscess, source of infection, organism, antibiotic susceptibility, treatment plan, and rate of complications. A brief review of the literature is included to compare our patient population to what has previously been reported in the literature.