Carcinoid tumor of the middle ear: a case report

Middle ear (ME) carcinoid tumor is exceedingly rare. We present a case of ME carcinoid tumor in a 29-year-old woman whose chief complaints were right otalgia, aural fullness, hearing loss, and facial palsy of 5 days duration. A reddish bulging mass behind the right eardrum and right facial palsy staged as grade IV on the House-Brackmann scale were noted. The high-resolution computed tomography of the temporal bone showed a soft-tissue density mass in the right middle ear and antrum without bony invasion. Although the initial diagnosis was ME adenoma made by the intraoperative frozen section report, the tumor was resected completely by a modified conservative ossicles-preservation method. The patient's initial symptoms of otalgia, aural fullness, and hearing loss immediately improved after surgery, and facial palsy diminished in the following months. No recurrence was noted after 12 months of follow-up.