Background A pigmented lesion that progressively increases in size anywhere in the body is a matter of concern, and when it presents in the ear, it has various differential diagnosis, one among them being a benign nevus. In this case report, we present a rare and interesting case of a pigmented lesion in the aural concha and review the literature of the same. Case presentation A 40-year-old male presented with pigmented right aural conchal growth with easy bruising of 1-year duration. Initial evaluation reported as a possible hemangioma, and excision biopsy revealed a compound nevus. Conclusion Despite its rarity, we should consider compound nevus as a differential diagnosis of pigmented external ear lesions. Histopathological examination is considered confirmatory; hence, excision biopsy is the treatment of choice.

Background India witnessed a massive surge of rhino orbital cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) cases during the second wave of COVID-19, recording the highest number of cases in the world, indeed, an epidemic within the pandemic. Objectives To describe the clinical profile of patients with COVID-19-associated mucormycosis (CAM) and the clinical suspects for mucormycosis. Methods This single-center descriptive, observational study/audit was done at Indira Gandhi Medical College, Pondicherry, South India. This study is about the clinical profile of 7 CAM patients and 14 COVID-19 patients who were suspects of CAM, based on their risk factors and clinical symptoms, and were referred to the ENT department. Statistical analysis All the descriptive variables were summarized as mean, frequency, and percentages for qualitative data. Results All 7 CAM patients were COVID-19 positive and were not vaccinated against COVID-19, All 7 were known diabetic, all 7 had steroid therapy for their COVID status, and 5 out of 7 (71%) had uncontrolled diabetes mellitus at the time of diagnosis. Facial pain, nasal discharge, and eye swelling were the presenting symptoms of CAM. Maxillary and ethmoid sinuses were the most commonly involved para nasal sinuses. Four out of seven (57.1%) CAM patients survived after 16 months of follow-up, after surgical and medical treatment for CAM. Of the 14 clinical suspects who were negative for CAM, 2 were negative for COVID-19, their risk factors were brought under control, 3 expired due to COVID complications, and 9 patients are alive till date. Conclusion Uncontrolled diabetes is a risk factor for ROCM/CAM, another possible risk factor is steroid therapy, and we hypothesize that COVID infection could also be a possible risk factor that needs to be studied more extensively in a larger sample. Early clinical suspicion, withdrawal of steroids, rapid control of diabetes mellitus, appropriate investigations, and early surgical intervention combined with medical treatment offers better outcome.

Background External auditory canal (EAC) masses can arise secondary to a multitude of ear pathologies like congenital, inflammatory, infective, or malignancy. The most common causes of external auditory canal masses are due to otitis media—squamous and mucosal types, tubercular otitis media, malignant otitis externa, and benign tumors like osteomas, exostosis, pleomorphic adenoma, tumors from the ceruminous and sebaceous glands; and malignant tumors like squamous cell carcinoma and rhabdomyosarcoma. The management of an external auditory canal mass will vary in each case, depending upon the underlying pathology and the extent of the involvement of the surrounding structures. Case presentation In our case report, we report a neglected foreign body in the external auditory canal that presented as an EAC mass and its management. Conclusion Hence, we suggest that we need to consider an underlying neglected foreign body as a cause, whenever masses of EAC do not respond to appropriate medical treatment with antibiotics.