Symptom: Pulsatile Mass in the Ear Canal

Abstract

A 30-year-old man presented with occasional rightsided ear pain and headaches. His history is notable for a right canal wall down (CWD) mastoidectomy and for an unknown mastoid mass in 2011. The patient was lost to follow-up for many years. In September 2021, he was treated for an ear infection with ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin. The patient denies any other otologic symptoms. On examination, there was a CWD cavity filled with debris, which was cleaned. There was a smooth, fluid-filled, compressible skin-covered pulsatile mass located anterosuperiorly in the lateral external auditory meatus, which is shown in Figure 1.