Question

Pott's puffy tumor is best described as:

• A. Subperiosteal abscess of frontal bone
• B. Subperiosteal abscess of ethmoid bone
• C. Mucocele of frontal bone
• D. Mucocele of ethmoid bone

Hint:

It is a subperiosteal abscess over an osteomyelitic frontal bone from frontal sinusitis.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Pott's puffy tumor, first described by Sir Percivall Pott in 1760, is a subperiosteal abscess of the frontal bone associated with underlying osteomyelitis.
Step 2: It usually complicates frontal sinusitis (or trauma), with infection spreading either directly or haematogenously to the frontal bone, producing a doughy, tender swelling over the forehead, which gives the lesion its name.
Step 3: Inward spread can cause serious intracranial complications such as epidural abscess, subdural empyema, brain abscess, and cortical vein thrombosis.
Step 4: The lesion involves the frontal bone, not the ethmoid, and it is an abscess with osteomyelitis, not a mucocele. Hence option (a) is correct.