Central Skull Base Osteomyelitis: Diagnostic Dilemmas and Management Issues.

The aim of this study is to describe the clinical presentation of central skull base osteomyelitis and to discuss the classical imaging findings and various diagnostic and therapeutic challenges faced in the management of this condition. This is a retrospective analysis of inpatient case records, carried out in a multidisciplinary tertiary care hospital. The study subjects included five elderly diabetic patients presenting to the ENT surgeon or neurologist with headache followed by multiple cranial nerve paralysis with no temporal bone involvement in four patients and a past history of otitis externa in one patient.