The Histologic Relationship of Preauricular Sinuses to Auricular Cartilage

Abstract

The observed sinocartilaginous distances suggest that it may be difficult to dissect most sinus tracts from the cartilage. The routine removal of a small portion of auricular cartilage along with the sinus tract may yield a more thorough excision and help to prevent recurrence.

Re: “Decision Making in the Choice of Surgical Management for Preauricular Sinuses with Different Severities”

“…This is because too many short sinocartilaginous distances of preauricular sinus can make it difficult to dissect most sinus tracts from the auricular cartilage, and this is the evidence that routine removal of auricular cartilage along with the sinus tract can help to prevent a recurrence. 5 However, I did not find out in this article if there might be a difference in the removal of the auricular cartilage between the authors’ 2 methods (wide excision versus figure 8 incision with extended fistulectomy). If the authors did not consider this in their analysis, their study might draw an improper conclusion that just a difference of the skin incision could make the difference in postoperative recurrence.…”

Bilateral Congenital Preauricular Fistula of the Cavum Conchae

“…We performed a simple sinectomy and partially resected the cartilage of the cavum conchae. Removing a small portion of auricular cartilage along with the sinus tract has been controversial [ 15 ]. The average sino-cartilaginous distance was 472 μm.…”

“…The sino-cartilaginous distance was less than 0.5 mm in more than 50% of specimens. In almost all of these, the epithelial tract was in continuity with stromal tissue histologically identical to the perichondrium [ 15 ]. They concluded that most sinus tracts might be challenging to separate from the cartilage, according to sino-cartilaginous distances.…”

Association of Recurrence of Infected Congenital Preauricular Cysts Following Incision and Drainage vs Fine-Needle Aspiration or Antibiotic Treatment

“…6 Indeed, histological studies show that there is a branching pattern to the preauricular cyst. In 2009, Dunham et al 7 examined the relationship between the epithelial tract of excised PAPs and the adjacent auricular cartilage. They 7 stated that the epithelial tracts commonly arborize with narrow, tortuous paths, and their findings suggest they are found less than 5 mm from the cartilage in 50% of the specimens.…”