Fatal meningitis and brain abscess resulting from foreign body-induced otomastoiditis.

Herein we report what we believe to be the only published case of an intracranial complication of otomastoiditis resulting from foreign-body material. The presence of a foreign body must be ruled out in any chronically draining ear, and all foreign material must be removed. The key to minimizing the morbidity of complications of infectious ear disease is early recognition and treatment.

Localization of the gene for branchiootorenal syndrome to chromosome 8q.

Branchiootorenal syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder that affects an estimated 2% of profoundly deaf children. In addition to hearing impairment, it is characterized by a lop-ear deformity, preauricular pits, branchial cleft sinus tracts, and renal anomalies. The pathogenesis of the disease remains unknown; however, the defective gene has been localized to chromosome 8q by family linkage studies.