Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the external auditory canal (EAC)

We present the third case of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the external auditory canal (EAC) in the English literature, and discuss the management of this lesion. The patient underwent a wide local resection, superficial parotidectomy, and selective neck dissection. Although intraoperative frozen section margins were negative, permanent histopathologic examination demonstrated tumor in the medial margin, and the tumor was upgraded to a high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma. The patient returned to the operating room for a wider local resection, and EAC reconstruction with a temporoparietal pedicled flap and split thickness skin graft. All margins were negative on final histopathologic examination. Radiotherapy was deferred in the event of a recurrence. The patient is currently disease-free 29 months after the final excision. Most authors advocate an aggressive surgical approach, which includes a form of a temporal bone resection, for the treatment of EAC carcinoma. Although this may be warranted in cases of squamous cell carcinoma, mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the EAC may be amenable to a conservative step-by-step approach for local control with less postoperative morbidity. Given the difficulty in detecting mucoepidermoid carcinoma in surgical margins by frozen section analysis, patients should be informed of the possibility of further surgery (re-resection) when a conservative approach is used.