Ultrastructural Morphology of a Middle Ear Ceruminoma

Abstract

The ultrastructural morphology of a ceruminous gland adenoma in the middle ear was examined electron microscopically. The epithelial tumor cells displayed apocrine caps, microvilli, cell junctions, secretory granules, vacuoles, lipid droplets and siderosomes, which are the characteristic ultrastructural features of apocrine glands. Concentric membranous bodies of the endoplasmic reticulum, phagocytic activity of the tumor cells, intracytoplasmic lumina, ciliated cells and also spiny collagen in the tumor stroma could be seen. The myoepithelial cells are an important tumor marker in the differential diagnosis between ceruminomas and adenomas of the middle ear. The ectopic origin in the modified apocrine ceruminous glands, the specific localization, the clinical features and the extremely rare occurrence of the ceruminoma makes this tumor a unique neoplastic entity.

Ceruminous gland adenoma of the external auditory canal: A case report

“…Complete surgical excision with adequate margins of the normal tissue will be curative with incomplete excision associated with an increased risk of recurrence. The prognosis of these tumours is good [1,2,10,11].…”

Middle Ear Ceruminous Gland Adenoma Obstructing the Eustachian Tube Orifice

“…e human ceruminous glands are modified apocrine glands and located in the skin of the cartilaginous portion of the external auditory canal [1,2]. e ceruminous gland neoplasms in the middle ear cavity are extremely rare because ceruminous glands are not distributed in the middle ear cavity, and only few cases have been reported in the English literature [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”