Gradenigo's syndrome

The Gradenigo syndrome (syn. Lannois - Gradenigo syndrome, pyramid tip syndrome, english Gradenigo 's triad ) is the result of an infectious inflammation of the cells of the petrous pyramid ( petrositis ). The syndrome is a rare complication of acute otitis media. Accesses the inflammation on the inside of the skull, they caused by a collateral edema or inflammatory infiltration damage to the adjacent cranial nerves with the following symptoms ( Gradenigo 's triad ):

• Severe pain behind the eye and face, the area supplied by the trigeminal nerve ( fifth cranial nerve)
• Double images are supplied by paralysis of eye muscles, by the oculomotor nerve (third cranial nerve) and the nervus abducens (VI cranial nerve)
• Otitis media with purulent discharge from the ear

The Italian doctor Giuseppe Conte ears Gradenigo (1859-1926) described the disease for the first time in 1904.