Lymphoma in the Ear

Abstract

Background: Malignant tumors of the ear are rare. The most common malignant tumors are squamous cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas. Lymphoma in the ear is rare. Methods: We report 2 cases of a primary presentation of a lymphoma of the ear. The literature since 1947 is reviewed. Results: An 83-year-old woman with an anaplastic large cell lymphoma of the skin of the external auditory meatus and a 75-year-old man with a B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of the mastoid process are presented. The literature review shows that only 16 cases of lymphomas of the ear have been reported so far. Conclusions: In a case of therapy-resistant otitis and/or peripheral facial paralysis malignancy should be excluded by computer tomography of the mastoid. For histopathological diagnosis unfixed specimens are preferable. Uniform treatment of lymphomas of the ear has not been established.

Bilateral Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma of the Temporal Bone: A Rare and Unusual Presentation

“…Lymphoma, malignant monoclonal proliferation of lymphoid cells, is the second most frequent malignant tumor (incidence 2.5%) in the head and neck region [8, 9]. Most primary lymphomas of the head and neck are of the NHL variety and are generally extranodal in location at initial presentation occurring most commonly in the nasopharynx, lacrimal sac, and the temporal bone [10].…”

De novo CD5-positive Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma of the Temporal Bone Presenting with an External Auditory Canal Tumor

“…We found only 17 reported cases of primary temporal bone lymphoma in the English and Japanese literature, including the cases of primary lymphoma of the middle ear (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28) (13,15,20,23 …”

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: an unusual cause of severe otalgia and facial palsy

“…Fish et al 1 reported a case of B-cell lymphoma presenting as a solitary tumour within the external auditory meatus. Merkus et al 2 remarked upon the ability of lymphomas within the ear to present with symptoms far more likely to be attributed to commoner ear pathologies. In a review of cases, Ogawa et al 3 report otalgia, hearing loss and ear fullness to be the commonest presenting symptoms.…”