Auricular ossification

A patient with extensive bilateral auricular ossification presented with chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis on one side. The condition was otherwise asymptomatic. Ossification was detected on radiological and histological examination. Underlying medical conditions were not found. We believe this developed as a consequence of cold injury. Auricular ossification is an unusual cause of the so-called petrified external ear, in which the subcutaneous tissue is stony hard. It is more commonly caused by dystrophic calcification. Calcification and ossification are clinically identical and histological examination is required to definitively differentiate them.