Cholesterol granuloma of the external ear canal: A rare presentation

Abstract

Almost all aural cholesterol granulomas develop in the mucosa of the middle ear. We describe the case of a 14-year-old girl who presented with an asymptomatic, nontender, dark-blue, cystic lesion in the posteroinferior portion of the left ear canal. The mass was excised via a postauricular approach. Postoperatively, the mass was identified as a cholesterol granuloma on pathologic examination. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a human cholesterol granuloma limited to the external ear canal.