BACKGROUND The fissures of Santorini have long been known as a gateway for disease to pass from the external auditory canal to the periparotid and neck spaces. Although anatomically understandable, description of disease that originates in the parotid gland and extends through the fissures to the external auditory canal is rare. This is, in fact,the first presentation of such a patient at our i...

Acquired external auditory canal atresia is a rare complication of chronic inflammatory otitis, and is generally fibrous or soft tissue in nature. Here, we present the first reported case of heterotopic ossification within chronic fibrosing otitis externa in a 25-year-old male patient with a childhood history of granular myringitis and failed tympanoplasty. A calcified mass was demonstrated adj...

A 32-year-old woman presented to our department with a 10-month history of right-sided intermittant otorrhagia. There was no history of hearing loss or pulsatile tinnitus. Otomicroscopic examination revealed a reddish mass arising from the right antero-superior portion of bony canal wall, which measured about 1 cm in diameter. The tympanic membrane seemed to be uninvolved. A computed tomography...

A nine-month-old Labrador retriever was referred to the Clinica Veterinaria Privata San Marco because of frequent headshaking and downward turning of the right ear. Clinical examination revealed that there was no external acoustic meatus in the right ear. Computed tomography confirmed that the vertical part of the right auditory canal ended blindly, providing a diagnosis of external auditory ca...