In the years 1953-1989 in the Department of Otolaryngology, Medical Academy in Poznań 75 patients were treated for otogenic brain abscesses, among them 19 were children. In the last ten years the number of cases of this complication was not increased significantly in children and adults. In 3 cases abscess was diagnosed in acute otitis media, in the remaining cases it was a complication of chronic otitis media with cholesteatoma. Brain abscesses were situated more frequently in the temporal lobe. In children they developed more frequently on the right side. The survival in temporal lobe abscesses in children was 90%, and in cerebellar abscesses 75%. In adults the survival rate was about 80% for both localizations. In the treatment of these otogenic complications wide radical operation on the middle ear or ++antro-mastoidectomy with exposure of the dura and simultaneous approach to the abscess from the postoperative ear cavity, with puncture of the abscess and replacement of its contents with normal saline with antibiotic is the routine method in the Department.