Benign and Malignant Tumours of the Ear and Temporal Bone

Abstract

Neoplasms of the temporal bone, especially malignant ones, are rare. Their occurrence is estimated on 0.2% of all tumours of the head and neck, including lesions of the skin of the pinna that spread to the temporal bone, primary tumours of the external auditory meatus, middle ear and various parts to the temporal bone. Among benign neoplasms, the most common are adenoma, chordoma, lipoma, neurofibroma and schwannoma. Malignancies are usually represented by acinic cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, chondrosarcoma, osteosarcoma, haemato-lymphoid tumours (including lymphomas), rhabdomyosarcoma, melanoma, malignant neuroma and paraganglioma as well as metastatic lesions and infiltration by pharyngeal, parotid and CNS tumours [1,2]. The lymphatic drainage is typically exclusive for structures of external and middle ear (membranes labyrinth does not have lymph vessels), and their primary lymph nodes are retroauricular, paraauricular and upper deep cervical ones (radiological group II) that drain the lymph from both previous groups. Lymph from the auditory tube is also drained into retropharyngeal nodes but finally is collected by deep cervical ones-group II and III [3][4][5].