Otological manifestations of leukemia

Abstract

The authors have been fortunate to study the currently largest single series of temporal bones from patients with various forms of leukemia, including the first reported cases of erythroleukemia. Histologically, the middle ear showed leukemic infiltration and/or hemorrhage much more frequently than did the inner ear or external auditory canal. No sound relationship exists between the anatomical location of hemorrhage in the temporal bone and clinical otological symptomatology. A better relationship exists between the anatomical site of leukemic infiltration of the temporal bone and clinical otological symptomatology. Twenty percent of these patients experienced otological complications directly attributable to their leukemia. An additional 28 percent of these patients experienced clinical otological problems for which a leukemic etiology could not be definitely established by histopathological study of their temporal bones. Otological complications occurred most frequently in patients with the acute forms of leukemia, and specifically, in acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Otological Diseases in Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

“…All the CML patients were referred others centers based on symptoms and WBC count above 200,000 cells/mm 3 . At our center, they all had bone marrow biopsy and cytogenetic studies with the confirmation of presence of Philadelphia Chromosome (Ph).…”

“…Otologic manifestations have been reported in 15-40% of leukemic patients [2][3][4][5]. These include moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo and facial nerve palsy.…”

“…Patients are often discovered incidentally when an elevated White Blood Cell count (WBC) is revealed by routine Full Blood Count (FBC) or when an enlarged spleen is revealed during an abdominal examination. Non-specific symptoms of tiredness, fatigue, and weight loss may occur long after the onset of the disease.Otologic manifestations have been reported in 15-40% of leukemic patients [2][3][4][5]. These include moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo and facial nerve palsy.…”

Facial nerve paralysis in acute otomastoiditis as presenting symptom of FAB M2, T8;21 leukemic relapse. Case report and review of the literature

“…This hematological disease can affect the external, middle and inner ear, as far as the petrous apex [2, 5,19,24,29,36,38,39]. Such involvement depends on: (1) neoplastic infiltration, (2) infections and (3) hemor-rhage.…”

“…Such involvement depends on: (1) neoplastic infiltration, (2) infections and (3) hemor-rhage. Leukemia in the ear can cause bleeding hemorrhages of the external ear and tympanic membrane, skin lesions of the external auditory canal, red or thick tympanic membrane, hemorrhagic or serous acute otitis media with effusion or suffusion of the mucosa of the middle ear, conductive or sensorineural hearing loss, acute otomastoiditis with facial or acoustic cranial nerve paralysis [10,11,16,18,19,20,24,36,38,39].…”