Mondini's dysplasia: a rare cause of recurrent meningitis in childhood

Recurrent meningitis in children may be due to immune deficiency or abnormal communication of CSF spaces with mucosal spaces (basal skull fractures, encephalocele, etc.). We report a 6-year-old boy, suffering from recurrent meningitis and sensorineural hearing loss. CT scans of the temporal bones demonstrated a bilateral Mondini dysplasia. In patients with this congenital inner ear anomaly, recurrent meningitis may be due to a CSF-middle ear fistula. We think that it is necessary to investigate all patients with recurrent meningitis and sensorineural hearing loss with CT scans of the temporal bones.