What are mastoid cells?
mastoid cells, sometimes called mastoid air cells, relate to air pockets formed by bone structure in the shape of honeycomb. Projection of part of the temporary bone in the skull, the mastoid process is placed behind the ear. Mountoid cells can have different sizes, depending on where they are located in the mastoid.
Very small mastoid cells are located at the top or tip of the mastoid process and at the bottom of the mastoid. Some of the smallest cells are filled with marrow. They usually have the same size and shape. The air pockets are collected in open spaces inside each of these large cells. Most large cells are located at the top of the mastoid process, while the others are located towards the front of the bone.
Computer tomography (CT) of the mastoid process reveals air cells as small dark spaces of lighter areas of dense bone cells. An inflamed or infected cells appear on scanning as a gray or white area where it would be expected to be behindDark spaces will be placed. When these abnormal looking cells are present, they are called mastoid cells.
Many people with acute otitis media (AOM), an infection of the middle ear, develop a condition called mastoiditis. Inflammation of the mastoid process may occur if the infection spreads behind the middle ear. Bacteria can travel a mastoid anthrum, a small cavity lined with mastoid cells adjacent to the mastoid process and start colonizing.
Early symptoms of mastoiditis mimic the middle ear infection. The area behind the ear can swell and be painful to the touch. A person may develop a fever when the infection settles into mastoid cells. Treatment of this painful condition usually requires an antibiotics wheel and a careful observation of the doctor.
Infected mastoid cells that do not respond to antibiotic treatment may need to be surgically removed. Due to the close proximity of the mastoThe idle process to the brain could not resolve infections to meningitis, which is an inflammation of the membrane around the brain. Mastidectomy is performed under general anesthesia and usually requires a stay overnight for observation.
Simple mastidectomy includes a small cut that removes growth or infected area of mastoid cells. Radical mastidectomy removes almost all the mastoid process and may include a excision of small parts of some middle ear structures. The cut then the workbook together and the antibiotic regime has begun to prevent infection.