Exostosis of the external auditory canal: an interesting histopathological finding

Abstract

Perforation of the tympanic membrane is a frequent complication of surgery for exostoses of the external auditory canal. We report an unusual histopathological finding in a temporal bone containing external canal exostoses which suggests that some of these perforations may be unavoidable.

A reevaluation of the cold water etiology of external auditory exostoses

“…Microscopic examination (Fig. 4) of the exostosis revealed that the structure exhibits several subperiosteal layers of dense compact bone in a circumscribed area, similar to previously reported histology of external auditory exostoses (Graham, 1979;Kemink and Graham, 1982;Pace-Balzan and Hawke, 1991).…”

Exostoses of the external auditory canal: a long-term follow-up study of surgical treatment

“…When exostoses cause symptoms, usually recurrent otitis externa with otalgia, conductive hearing loss or tinnitus, they may require excision. The complications of surgical treatment include perforation of the tympanic membrane (which in some cases may be inevitable), 16 meatal stenosis, infection, residual tinnitus, hearing loss and facial nerve palsy. Surgery is usually successful in relieving the patients’ symptoms, although previous studies analysing their postoperative course fail to show any recurrence of exostoses after surgery, 17,18 which may be partly explained by diminished aquatic sports activity 19 .…”

Auditory exostoses among the prepottery neolithic inhabitants of Çayönü and Aşıklı, Anatolia; its relation to aquatic activities

“…The remaining 30% arise from the floor of the meatus or its upper edge (Wang et al, 2005). Rarely, a tumor may descend from the roof of the outer ear canal and together with the anterior and posterior exostoses, they almost occlude the auditory meatus and produce a characteristic triangular constriction (Mays, 1998;Wong et al, 1999;Pace-Balzan and Hawke, 1991). From the microscopic point of view, external auditory exostoses are characterized by subperiostal and lamellar bony additions.…”

“…From the microscopic point of view, external auditory exostoses are characterized by subperiostal and lamellar bony additions. They involve a great number of osteocytes (Hutchinson et al, 1997) and are composed of dense compact bone (Pace-Balzan and Hawke, 1991;Aufderheide and Rodriguez-Martin, 1998).…”