• Journal of Clinical Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.245-249
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• 2018

Neurilemmoma is a benign tumor that originates from the Schwann cell. It frequently occurs in head and neck regions, but neurilemmoma of external auditory canal is extremely rare. Here, we report a very rare case of 36-year-old male with a tumor located in the posterior wall of external auditory canal, preoperatively suspected as neurilemmoma originated from Arnold's nerve by temporal bone magnetic resonance imaging. The tumor mass was surgically excised and pathologically confirmed as a neurilemmoma.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.47-49
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• 2015

An osteoma of the external auditory canal(EAC) is an uncommon benign tumor. If a canal obstruction occurs, ear fullness or conductive hearing loss can arise. But, the association of an osteoma with a cholesteatoma is extremely rare. Therefore, we report a case of a 35-year-old female patient with osteoma of temporal bone that was complicated with EAC cholesteatoma.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.49-53
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• 2017

Formant frequencies depend on the position of tongue, the shape of lips, and larynx. In the auditory system, the external ear canal is an open-end resonator, which can modify the voice characteristics. This study investigates the effect of the real ear on formant frequencies. Fifteen subjects ranging from 22 to 30 years of age participated in the study. This study employed three corner vowels: the low central vowel /a/, the high front vowel /i/, and the high back vowel /u/. For this study, the voice of a well-educated undergraduate who majored in speech-language pathology, was recorded with a high performance condenser microphone placed in the upper pinna and in the ear canal. Paired t-test showed that there were significant difference in the formant frequencies of F1, F2, F3, and F4 between the free field and the real ear. For /a/, all formant frequencies decreased significantly in the real ear. For /i/, F2 increased and F3 and F4 decreased. For /u/, F1 and F2 increased, but F3 and F4 decreased. It seems that these voice modifications in the real ear contribute to interpreting voice quality and understanding speech, timbre, and individual characteristics, which are influenced by the shape of the outer ear and external ear canal in such a way that formant frequencies become centralized in the vowel space.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.149-154
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• 2022

Objectives: To measure tympanic bone thickness (anterior-superior, anterior-inferior, and inferior wall), external ear canal length, and tympanomandibular distance that can be useful in cases that undergo tympanic bone resection. Materials and Methods: The temporal computed tomography (CT) images of 349 patients were retrospectively evaluated. The anterior-inferior, anterior-superior, and inferior wall thicknesses; tympanomandibular distance; and external auditory canal (EAC) bone canal length were measured from the narrowest part of the canal. The shapes of the EAC in the coronal and sagittal planes were also examined. Results: The numbers of female and male patients were similar, and the mean age was 49.45±13.95 years. The anterior-superior, anterior-inferior, and inferior wall thicknesses were 1.92±0.60, 2.54±0.74, and 9.16±2.20 mm, respectively. The anterior-superior and anterior-inferior wall thicknesses and canal lengths were greater on the right side (P<0.001). All measurement values were higher in males, except right tympanomandibular distance (P<0.05). A non-significant negative correlation was found between the age of the participants and the left anterior-inferior wall and tympanomandibular distance on both sides. Intra-observer agreement was high for all measurements. We observed four main shapes in the external ear canal in the coronal plane: Type 3, Type 2, Type 1, and Type 4 in order of frequency on the right, and Type 2, Type 3, Type 1, and Type 4 on the left. In the sagittal plane, we detected three shapes: oval (74.4%), triangular (16.3%), and round (9.4%). Conclusion: The anterior wall thicknesses and tympanomandibular distance should be measured on preoperative temporal bone CT to safely perform tympanic bone anterior resection, which is required in some otological procedures, and also to prevent temporomandibular joint damage.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.56-60
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• 2018

Epidermoid cyst in bony wall of external auditory canal (EAC) is a very rare pathologic condition. In addition to its extreme rarity, its positional proximity to temporomandibular joint (TMJ) might lead to clinical misdiagnosis as TMJ disorders, especially when it is accompanied by temporomandibular disorders-like symptoms. In this article, we report a patient with epidermoid cyst in anterior bony wall of EAC, which was misdiagnosed as TMJ disorder because the left TMJ pain aggravated during mastication.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.52-56
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• 2008

Epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma (EMC) is a low grade malignant neoplasm that commonly occurs in the parotid gland. Recently, we investigated a case of EMC that occurred in the external auditory canal (EAC) in a 35-year-old male, and this tumor was initially diagnosed as pleomorphic adenoma. The difficulty associated with diagnosing EMC by aspiration cytology arises from both the rare incidence of this tumor and the overlapping spectrum of cytological features found in various salivary gland tumors, such as pleomorphic adenoma, basal cell adenoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.244-247
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• 2018

Congenital intratympanic membrane cholesteatoma (ITMC) is a rare type of congenital cholesteatoma located within the tympanic membrane. This lesion tends to increase in size over time. The development of ITMC can cause several complications such as hearing impairment, dizziness, facial palsy, and intracranial complications, similar to any other cholesteatoma. The treatment of congenital cholesteatoma requires the removal of the lesion through surgery, because disease progression induces bony destruction of the nearby tissue. Most patients presenting with this cholesteatoma type are also treated with primary surgical removal. However, we recently experienced a case of an ITMC that showed a natural transition to an external auditory canal cholesteatoma.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2020

Auditory stimuli are commonly used in various electroencephalogram experiments, also in EEG-based brain-computer interface systems. However, using conventional earphones that blocks the ear canal attenuates or even blocks external environmental sound which might cause loss of crucial information from surroundings. Instead, bone-conductive earphones are able to deliver sound through vibration without blocking the ear canal. To investigate the feasibility of the bone-conductive earphones for auditory-stimuli based experiments, we compared N100 event-related potential features as well the event-related spectral perturbation and inter-trial coherence of auditory steady-state response between conventional and bone-conductive earphones. The results showed no significant differences between bone conduction and conventional earphones regardless of distinct sound pressures. This result shows that bone conductive earphones can be used for auditory experiments when the environmental sound is crucial to the user.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.15-19
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: To determine the efficacy of filling the external auditory meatus with 1% clotrimazole at a single visit for the treatment of otomycosis. Subjects and Methods: This prospective study included 40 patients who were referred to our clinic with complaints of ear itching, pain, and fullness, and were diagnosed with unilateral otomycosis. After cleaning the mycotic hyphae from the external auditory meatus, the ear canal was filled with 1% clotrimazole, using an intravenous catheter and syringe. The patients received follow-up examinations on post-treatment days 7, 15, and 45. Results: The follow-up otomicroscopic examinations revealed that 95% of the ear canals were entirely clean and that all symptoms had resolved. The post-treatment scores of pain, aural fullness and itching were significantly lower than the pre-treatment scores (p<0.01). Conclusions: Filling the external auditory meatus with 1% clotrimazole at a single visit is an easy, efficient, and cost-effective treatment for otomycosis. Additionally, high patient compliance makes this treatment superior to long-term topical therapy.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.15-19
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: To determine the efficacy of filling the external auditory meatus with 1% clotrimazole at a single visit for the treatment of otomycosis. Subjects and Methods: This prospective study included 40 patients who were referred to our clinic with complaints of ear itching, pain, and fullness, and were diagnosed with unilateral otomycosis. After cleaning the mycotic hyphae from the external auditory meatus, the ear canal was filled with 1% clotrimazole, using an intravenous catheter and syringe. The patients received follow-up examinations on post-treatment days 7, 15, and 45. Results: The follow-up otomicroscopic examinations revealed that 95% of the ear canals were entirely clean and that all symptoms had resolved. The post-treatment scores of pain, aural fullness and itching were significantly lower than the pre-treatment scores (p<0.01). Conclusions: Filling the external auditory meatus with 1% clotrimazole at a single visit is an easy, efficient, and cost-effective treatment for otomycosis. Additionally, high patient compliance makes this treatment superior to long-term topical therapy.