Primary tumors arising from the external auditory canal (EAC) are rare. We describe two cases of mass lesions within the EAC causing slowly progressive hearing loss without otorrhea or otalgia. Otoendoscopic examination demonstrated total obstruction of the EAC, and pure tone audiometry revealed conductive hearing loss. Based on the findings of the histopathologic examination, one patient was diagnosed with venous hemangioma that was treated using surgical resection, and the other patient was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) that was treated using external-beam radiation therapy. Although primary tumors in the EAC are rare, both benign tumors such as venous hemangiomas and malignant lesions such as DLBCL should be considered as possible differential diagnoses of mass lesions in the EAC.
Audiometry ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Ear Canal ; Earache ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Conductive ; Hemangioma ; Humans ; Lymphoma, B-Cell

BACKGROUND: Many studies about herpes zoster exist in the Korean dermatologic literature. However, few studies have reported about facial herpes zoster and its complications. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the epidemiology, clinical features, and complications of facial herpes zoster. METHODS: We analyzed the medical records of 977 patients who visited Sanggye Paik Hospital between January 2002 and December 2017. We categorized patients into 8 groups based on the dermatomal distribution of herpetic lesions. We investigated the correlations between clinical features, prognosis, and complications. RESULTS: We analyzed the medical records of 977 patients who visited Sanggye Paik Hospital between January 2002 and December 2017. We categorized patients into 8 groups based on the dermatomal distribution of herpetic lesions. We investigated the correlations between clinical features, prognosis, and complications. Results: The most common site of involvement of facial herpes zoster was the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve (59.2%). Herpes zoster involving the ophthalmic and the maxillary branches of the trigeminal nerves showed a significantly higher incidence rate of herpes zoster ophthalmicus than that observed with herpes zoster involving only the ophthalmic branch (odds ratio 7.373). Age and periorbital swelling were significantly correlated with herpes zoster ophthalmicus (p<0.001). Facial palsy was significantly correlated with otalgia and cutaneous ear involvement (p<0.001). Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) occurred in 41% of patients with facial herpes zoster. Patients who received antiviral treatment within 3 days showed lower rates of PHN (35.8%) than patients who received treatment after 4 days (45.4%) (p=0.002). CONCLUSION: Facial herpes zoster is associated with several neurological complications. Variables including age, periorbital swelling, otalgia, and cutaneous ear involvement are useful predictors of complications and prognosis. Early institution of antiviral treatment and appropriate interdepartmental consultations are required for better treatment outcomes.
Ear ; Earache ; Epidemiology ; Facial Paralysis ; Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus ; Herpes Zoster Oticus ; Herpes Zoster ; Humans ; Incidence ; Medical Records ; Neuralgia, Postherpetic ; Prognosis ; Referral and Consultation ; Retrospective Studies ; Trigeminal Nerve

A malignant tumor of the external auditory canal (EAC) is a rare tumor, with a prevalence of between 1 and 6 people per 1 million population. Common symptoms of the EAC cancer include otorrhea, hearing loss, otalgia, or tinnitus, which are similar to symptoms of otitis media or otitis externa. Therefore, diagnosis may be delayed due to lack of EAC cancer-specific symptoms and the prognosis is also relatively poor despite intensive treatment. The most malignant tumor of the EAC is squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which usully invades the ear unilaterally. SCC of bilateral EAC is extremely rare. We report here a rare case of bilateral EAC SCC. In this case, unilateral EAC SCC was treated via stereotactic radiosurgery and contralateral EAC SCC developed subsequently. This case implicates that radiosurgery can be a treatment option for EAC SCC but it may have carcinogenic effect. This case also shows that the ear should be examined bilaterally even when unilateral EAC cancer is encountered.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Diagnosis ; Ear ; Ear Canal* ; Earache ; Epithelial Cells* ; Hearing Loss ; Otitis Externa ; Otitis Media ; Prevalence ; Prognosis ; Radiosurgery ; Tinnitus

A 58-year-old female complained earfullness and otalgia and came to the clinic. Dark gray colored cystic mass obstructing the left ear canal was observed during the endoscopic exam. Contrast enhanced CT image showed an oval shape soft tissue lesion in the mid part of the external auditory canal with a homogenous increased contrast uptake. The mass was removed under microscopic view at outpatient clinic. While dissecting the mass in the ear canal, a pod like structure was visualized. The external organism was densely adherent to the skin and turned out to be an engorged hard tick. Considering the final diagnosis, contrast uptake observed in the CT scan implicates the patient communication of blood between host and parasite. This unique image finding differs from a benign mass lesion in the ear canal was one of the differential diagnosis points for the lesion. This article is reporting the case of tick bite in the ear canal with a rare CT scan finding.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Ear Canal ; Ear, External ; Earache ; Female ; Humans ; Ixodidae ; Middle Aged ; Parasites ; Skin ; Tick Bites ; Ticks ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Ticks are obligate parasites on animals and sometimes humans. They usually suck the blood of the hosts and can carry various infectious diseases as a vector. Otoacariasis is the presence of ticks and mites within the ear canal and relatively common in domestic and wild animals. However, tick infestations of human ear canals are rarely reported in the scientific literature and hardly occur in developed countries. Herein, we report a rare case of otoaracariasis involving Haemaphysalis longicornis . A 9-year-old girl living in a suburb presented with otalgia of left ear for 1 day. Otoscopic examination revealed a huge insect occluding the tympanic membrane. Tick removal and washing of external auditory canal was done successfully. The causative tick was identified as the H. longicornis. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of human otoacariasis by a H. longicornis in Korea.
Animals ; Animals, Wild ; Child ; Communicable Diseases ; Developed Countries ; Ear ; Ear Canal ; Earache ; Female ; Humans* ; Insects ; Ixodidae ; Korea ; Mites ; Parasites ; Tick Bites ; Tick Infestations ; Ticks ; Tympanic Membrane

We report a case of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) otorrhea with impression material of hearing aid in the middle ear. The patient had chronic otitis media in the right ear with sensorineural hearing loss in both ears. The silicone flowed into the middle ear through a tympanic membrane perforation during the process of making an ear mold. Several days after hearing aid fitting, the patient had severe otalgia, intractable otorrhea, aggravated hearing loss, and dizziness. The pus culture and sensitivity test revealed MRSA. After topical treatment using diluted vinegar irrigation and ototopical vancomycin solution, intractable otorrhea was controlled. The infected silicone impression was removed by canal wall-up mastoidectomy, and hearing was saved. We present here a review of the literature regarding silicone impression in the middle ear after hearing aid mold fitting.
Acetic Acid ; Dizziness ; Ear ; Ear, Middle* ; Earache ; Fungi ; Hearing ; Hearing Aids ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Humans ; Methicillin Resistance* ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus* ; Otitis Media ; Silicon* ; Silicones* ; Suppuration ; Tympanic Membrane Perforation ; Vancomycin

OBJECTIVE: Blunt head injury can lead to isolated damage of the inner ear (cochlear labyrinthine concussion) or damage of the otolith organ (vestibular labyrinthine concussion) due to a bone conduction pressure. We evaluated the clinical characteristics of hearing impairment in patients who suffered from a blunt head trauma without any organic problems, including temporal bone fracture or intracranial hemorrhage. METHODS: This retrospective study examined 9 patients presenting with hearing impairment after blunt head trauma within recent 5 years. This study included only patients without temporal bone fracture or intracranial hemorrhage. RESULTS: Most patients complained of associated auditory symptoms including tinnitus, dizziness, earfullness, and otalgia. Twelve ears of 9 patients showed sensorineural hearing loss; mild (1 ear), moderate (3 ears), moderate-severe (4 ears), severe (2 ears), and profound (2 ears). After high-dose steroid therapy, 2 ears had a significant hearing gain, but 10 ears showed no improvement of hearing. CONCLUSION: Blunt head injury is one of the most common causes of the neurologic disorders. It is important to perform thorough assessment of auditory symptoms as soon as possible. Otologic consultation should be sought in all cases for appropriate management.
Bone Conduction ; Craniocerebral Trauma* ; Dizziness ; Ear ; Ear, Inner ; Earache ; Head Injuries, Closed ; Head* ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Humans ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Nervous System Diseases ; Otolithic Membrane ; Retrospective Studies ; Temporal Bone ; Tinnitus

Otalgia consists of primary otalgia associated with disorders of the ear itself and referred otalgia due to disorders of organs that share the same innervation with the ear. Disorders of the oral cavity and laryngopharynx served by the glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves are common causes of referred otalgia. Chest pain from myocardial infarction spreads through the afferent pain pathway, especially through the sympathetic nerves in the cardiac plexus and the phrenic nerve, resulting in a typical chest pain or referred pain in the left upper extremity. However, pain spreading through the vagus nerve can theoretically cause referred otalgia. This association between the heart and ear has not been widely acknowledged, even though a referred otalgia can occasionally be the only symptom of the tragic disease, myocardial infarction, and should be taken seriously. We report a patient who complained of left otalgia as the only symptom of myocardial infarction.
Cardiomyopathies ; Chest Pain ; Ear ; Earache* ; Heart ; Humans ; Hypopharynx ; Infarction ; Mouth ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Pain, Referred ; Phrenic Nerve ; Upper Extremity ; Vagus Nerve

Malignancy of the external auditory canal (EAC) is a rare tumor. Among the malignancies of EAC, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most common pathologic type. The causes of SCC of EAC may be exposure to ultraviolet rays, cholesteatoma, chronic otitis externa, and rarely radiotherapy. SCC of EAC has the diverse and non-specific clinical features including mass of tissue, otorrhea, otalgia, tinnitus, and facial palsy which make it difficult to distinguish between SCC and benign tumor. Recently, we experienced a case of SCC of EAC occurred in the left external auditory canal after radiotherapy for Kimura's disease, which was misdiagnosed as keratoacanthoma at first. The findings of this case suggest that when it is difficult to distinguish SCC from benign tumor of EAC, the excisional biopsy including enough resected margin and base of tumor is needed for an exact diagnosis.
Biopsy ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Cholesteatoma ; Diagnosis ; Ear Canal* ; Earache ; Epithelial Cells* ; Facial Paralysis ; Keratoacanthoma* ; Otitis Externa ; Radiotherapy* ; Tinnitus ; Ultraviolet Rays

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The epidermoid cyst is a common benign disease of the skin caused by inflammation of hair cortex follicles and proliferation of epidermal cells within the dermis or superficial subcutaneous tissue. The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of epidermoid cysts of the external auditory canal (EAC) by analyzing the clinical and radiologic features. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The clinical records were retrospectively reviewed for patients diagnosed with epidermoid cyst of the EAC from March 2004 to December 2013. The epidermoid cysts were diagnosed clinically by endoscopy and microscopy examinations and by temporal bone CT images, and were confirmed by histopathologic examination. Characteristics of epidermoid cysts in bony EAC and cartilaginous EAC were compared. RESULTS: Eight patients had an epidermoid cyst in the bony EAC and nine patients had one in the cartilaginous EAC. Swelling and otalgia were common symptoms, but 47% of cysts were found incidentally. The mean age of patients was 49.6 years (age range, 26-67 years) in the bony EAC cases and 26.1 years (age range, 6-57 years) in the cartilaginous EAC cases. The mean size of the epidermoid cyst was 3.50 mm (size range, 2-7 mm) in the bony EAC cases and 9.55 mm (size range, 2-20 mm) in the cartilaginous EAC cases. CONCLUSIONS: Comparison of epidermoid cysts of the bony EAC and the cartilaginous EAC revealed that epidermoid cysts of the bony EAC is usually found incidentally, arose in older patients and had smaller size.
Dermis ; Ear Canal* ; Earache ; Endoscopy ; Epidermal Cyst* ; Hair ; Humans ; Incidental Findings ; Inflammation ; Microscopy ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Temporal Bone