A 14-month-old child has fever and irritability after several days of coryza. The child is pulling at the right ear and wakes repeatedly overnight. Otoscopy shows a markedly bulging, opaque right tympanic membrane with reduced mobility; the left tympanic membrane is normal. There is no tragal tenderness, mastoid swelling or perforation. Which diagnosis is most likely?
More from AMC
See allA 17-year-old girl presents six hours after a deliberate ingestion of tablets taken from the family bathroom cabinet. She complains of nausea, repeated vomiting…
A 28-year-old woman is brought in by ambulance 90 minutes after being found drowsy next to an empty box of amitriptyline. Her Glasgow Coma Scale score is 12, he…
A 21-year-old man collapses at the 14 km mark of a city fun run on a 34°C day. In the trackside medical tent he is confused and agitated with a Glasgow Coma Sca…
A 26-year-old backpacker is snorkelling off Port Douglas in far north Queensland in December when she feels a mild sting on her forearm, leaving only faint redn…
A 34-year-old man in suburban Sydney felt a sharp pinprick on the back of his hand while moving pot plants stacked against the house. Over the next two hours he…