Automastoidectomy caused by keratosis obturans: a case report

This is a case report of a 25-year-old Oriental woman with persistent and neglected keratosis obturans. The enlarging plug of keratin in the deep meatus produced an "automastoidectomy" in the left ear. The clinical findings are supplemented with a preoperative CT scan, and by pre- and postoperative Hopkins rod photographs of the ear. This case demonstrates dramatically the extensive erosion of bone that can occur in a patient with neglected keratosis obturans.