[Internal occlusive hydrocephalus following cholesteatoma].

A 30-year-old Vietnamese patient is reported who was admitted with a resistant acute otitis externa, and who complained also of headache and fever. The symptoms were found to be caused by the intracranial complications (epidural abscess and bacterial meningitis) of an aural cholesteatoma. A secondary occlusive hydrocephalus developed in spite of successful otological surgery that preserved hearing and vestibular function.