Bilateral external ear canal osteomas – discussion on a clinical case

Osteomas of the external ear are uncommon benign tumors that need to be differentiated from the external ear canal exostoses, bony proliferations that are linked mainly to cold-water exposure. Clinical manifestations vary from no symptoms to recurrent local infections and external ear cholesteatoma. Objective: presenting a rare case that we did not find described in the published literature. A patient with multiple long-term asymptomatic osteomas of both external ear canals presented to our department. Material: Data recorded from the patient’s medical record was reviewed and analyzed. Surgery was performed and histology confirmed the presumptive diagnosis. Results: There was a discrepancy between the local severity of the disease, with a complete obstruction of his ear canals, and the long-term disease-free status of the patient. Conclusion: We hypothesized about the etiology of these multiple bilateral osteomas of the EAC, in light of the clinical and surgical findings.