Capillary haemangioma of the middle ear: a rare lesion difficult to evaluate

Haemangiomas are benign vascular tumours relatively common in the head and neck district but very rare in the temporal bone. Depending on its clinical presentation, haemangioma can be mistaken for other vascular masses such as glomus tumour or other lesions of the middle ear. Unfortunately, clinical and radiological evaluation may be insufficient to make a pre-operative diagnosis and the diagnosis is often based upon intra-operative biopsy specimen findings.