Mondini dysplasia and recurrent bacterial meningitis in a girl with relapsing Langerhans cell histiocytosis.

We report a case of a girl with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) of multifocal bone disease, who developed recurrent bacterial meningitis and unilateral sensorineural hearing loss during the relapsing course of the disease. Mondini dysplasia, a congenital inner ear anomaly, was suspected by high resolution computed tomographic scan and the dysplasia with cerebrospinal fluid leakage was confirmed by surgery in the ipsilateral ear showing hearing loss. Although rare, congenital inner ear anomalies such as Mondini dysplasia should be kept in mind in pediatric patients with hearing impairment and/or recurrent bacterial meningitis during chemotherapy for various types of neoplasms including LCH. Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.