Concurrent necrotising otitis externa and adenocarcinoma of the temporal bone: a diagnostic challenge.

Abstract

We present a case of an 81-year-old man who was diagnosed with a necrotising (malignant) otitis externa (NOE). Initial biopsies from the external auditory canal showed scanty squamous epithelium but no evidence of malignancy. Despite an initial improvement on intravenous antibiotics and subsequent discharge from hospital, the patient returned with worsening otalgia. Following readmission to the hospital, intravenous antibiotics were restarted. Despite this, the patient developed a lower motor neurone palsy of cranial nerve VII on the ipsilateral side of the pain. He was taken to the theatre for an exploration of the left mastoid with further biopsies. Adenocarcinoma was diagnosed histologically and the patient was started on palliative radiotherapy. This case adds to the known literature on metastatic disease in the temporal bone and highlights the need to exclude malignancy in cases of NOE.

• Authors: Neil Foden, Christopher Burgess, Stephen Damato, James Ramsden
• Journal: BMJ case reports (BMJ Case Rep) Vol. 2013 (Nov 06 2013) ISSN: 1757-790X [Electronic] England
• PMID: 24197806 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Topics

• Adenocarcinoma (complications, diagnosis, pathology)
• Aged, 80 and over
• Diagnosis, Differential
• Humans
• Male
• Necrosis
• Neoplasm Metastasis
• Otitis Externa (complications, diagnosis, pathology)
• Skull Neoplasms (complications, diagnosis, pathology)
• Temporal Bone (pathology)