April 30, 2010 James J. Klemens, MD, Wendy Recant, MD, Joseph M. Baron, MD, and Miriam I. Saadia-Redleaf, MD
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Abstract
We present a case of bilateral otitis externa that did not respond to local treatment. Cutaneous biopsies revealed bilateral amyloid depositions secondary to multiple myeloma. Persistent, identical bilateral canal lesions may be the only manifestation of treatable systemic disease and should be biopsied, even though their bilaterality argues against malignancy.
April 30, 2010 Sampan S. Bist, MS, Saurabh Varshney, MS, Rakesh Kumar, MS, and Nitin Gupta, MS
March 1, 2010 Lisa Skultety Ayers, DO, Kalpana DePasquale, DO, Frank I. Marlowe, MD, and Mahmoud Ghaderi, DO
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Abstract
Pleomorphic adenomas of the external auditory canal (EAC) are benign tumors of the ceruminal glands; they are a rare entity. Arising from the lateral cartilaginous portion of the EAC, these lesions can be challenging to diagnose in view of their rare clinical presentation, indolent symptoms, and a lack of familiarity on the part of histopathologists. We report the case of a pleomorphic adenoma in a 32-year-old woman, and we review the literature on glandular neoplasms of the EAC, with particular emphasis on terminology and factors that can hinder the diagnosis.
March 1, 2010 Deepika Sareen, MBBS, Ashwani Sethi, MS, Sumit Mrig, MBBS, Sonu Nigam, MD, and A.K. Agarwal, MS
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Abstract
We report the case of an 11-year-old girl who presented with a soft-tissue mass that filled the left external auditory canal and a discharge that resembled chronic suppurative otitis media. The patient underwent mastoid exploration with complete excision of the mass. Findings on the excision biopsy were consistent with a myxoma of the temporal bone. At follow-up 2 years postoperatively, the patient remained disease-free. To the best of our knowledge, this is only the 12th case of a myxoma of the temporal bone to be reported in the English-language literature.
January 1, 2010 Geert Delabie, MD, Frans Gordts, MD, PhD, and Peter A.R. Clement, MD, PhD
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Abstract
We present a case involving a 36-year-old man who had a feeling that his right ear was obstructed and who had associated conductive hearing loss that was exacerbated by nose blowing. On otoscopy, a soft-tissue swelling was seen in the posterosuperior aspect of the right external auditory canal. Computed tomography revealed the presence of hyperaerated mastoid air cells and an air-containing cavity connected with the enlarged mastoid air cells, narrowing the external auditory canal. A radiographic diagnosis of a mastoid pneumocele with secondary pneumatocele was made. A novel hypothesis is presented, that high nasal pressures play an important role in the progressive formation of a pneumocele/pneumatocele as a result of air invasion via the eustachian tube. Symptoms disappeared after a myringotomy tube was placed. Computed tomography performed 6 months later showed an impressive remodeling of the temporal bone
January 1, 2010 Omar Rahmat, MS (ORL), Rajagopalan Raman, MS (ORL), and Hisyam Salleh, MBBS
October 31, 2009 Borlingegowda Viswanatha, MS, DLO
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Abstract
The author describes a rare case of external auditory canal cholesteatoma. This particular case occurred in a 20-year-old woman who had undergone a tympanoplasty 1 year earlier. Previous tympanoplasty is one of several known predisposing factors for external auditory canal cholesteatoma. The mass was excised, and it was diagnosed on histopathology. The patient recovered uneventfully.
August 31, 2009 N. Wendell Todd, MD, MPH
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Abstract
The angles formed by the tympanic membrane and the external ear canal anteriorly, anteroinferiorly, and inferiorly can pose surgical challenges, and the spaces they form can harbor iatrogenic cholesteatoma. The range of values previously reported for these angles-27° to 60°-seems not to have been determined in a clinically applicable manner. To clinically describe the tympanum-canal angles, assess bilateral symmetry, assess the angles relative to mastoid pneumatization, and assess the relationship of the angles to manubrium orientation in the skull, the author conducted a postmortem anatomic study of 41 bequeathed adult crania without clinical otitis media. As viewed through the external ear canal, the tympanum-canal angles were measured in 10° increments anteriorly, anteroinferiorly, and inferiorly relative to the line of the manubrium. Mastoid sizes were determined radiographically. In the right ear, the tympanum-canal angles ranged from 40° to 60° anteriorly (median: 55°), from 50° to 70° anteroinferiorly (median: 60°), and from 70° to 80° inferiorly (median: 75°). Bilateral symmetry was found (each rs ≥ 0.69, p < 0.001). Although the angles did not correlate with either mastoid pneumatization or manubrium orientation relative to the Frankfort plane, nonvisualization of the annulus anteriorly was significantly more common in specimens with well-pneumatized mastoids (p < 0.05). The author concludes that the tympanum-canal angles anteriorly, anteroinferiorly, and inferiorly have comparatively narrow ranges, exhibit bilateral symmetry, and are unrelated to both mastoid size and manubrium orientation in the skull.
June 30, 2009 Mary Burton, AuD and Arun K. Gadre, MD
March 1, 2008 Matthew J. Carfrae, MD and David Foyt, MD
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Abstract
We report the case of a 49-year-old man who presented with left aural fullness, hearing loss, and a stenotic left external auditory meatus. Physical examination and computed tomography revealed the presence of an idiopathic ossification of the cartilaginous auricle and external auditory canal. The patient was successfully treated with meatoplasty. Pathologic examination of the removed specimen revealed osseous metaplasia.
September 30, 2007 J. Walter Kutz Jr., MD; Derald E. Brackmann, MD
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A 67-year-old man presented with a long history of hearing loss. He denied otorrhea, otalgia, and a history of ear infections.
July 31, 2007 Maria Mercedes M. Okumura, PhD; Célia Helena C. Boyadjian, BA; Sabine Eggers, PhD
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Abstract
Auditory exostoses are bone anomalies located on the floor of the external auditory canal. They frequently develop in individuals who participate in water sports and other aquatic activities. Their etiology is probably multifactorial; development seems to be triggered by regular exposure to cold water, as well as to low air temperatures and/or cold winds. The presence of auditory exostoses has been recorded in human skull fossils that date back approximately 250,000 years. We conducted a study of auditory exostoses in 621 skulls of adult humans who had been part of a marine-dependent population that lived on the Brazilian coast between 5,400 and 800 years ago. The overall frequency of exostoses was 22%, but there was a great variance among different subgroups (0 to 56%). In this article, we propose some possible explanations for this variance. We also hope that our study will stimulate multidisciplinary research aimed at deciphering the intricate bony messages contained in cryptic archaeologic remains.
