More Than Meets the Ear: Incidental Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak During Myringotomy in a Child With Common Cavity Deformity
Alan Wu, Ajay Bharathan, Parth Nakirikanti, Santino S Cervantes · 2026
Read More Than Meets the Ear: Incidental Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak During Myringotomy in a Child With Common Cavity Deformity by Alan Wu, Ajay Bharathan, Parth Nakirikanti, Santino S Cervantes (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13500054.txt.
Description
Alan Wu and colleagues describe in 2026 an emergency hidden inside an ear procedure on a young child. Their patient was a five-year-old boy with profound hearing loss in both ears and an unknown inner ear malformation. He was having a small cut in the eardrum, called myringotomy, for repeated middle ear infections. Clear fluid poured out in a high-flow, pulsing stream, raising immediate suspicion of cerebrospinal fluid, the liquid bathing the brain and spine.
Fluid testing confirmed the leak marker. Urgent exploration through the side of the skull found a congenital opening letting fluid escape from the inner ear chamber through the oval window into the middle ear. Surgeons sealed it in layers with tissue packing, cartilage, a muscle flap, ear canal closure, and blocking of the connecting tube. Untreated leaks risk meningitis, so the authors urge imaging before ear procedures in children with profound hearing loss.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Alan Wu, Ajay Bharathan, Parth Nakirikanti, Santino S Cervantes |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 16625 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |