Abstract
Malignant tumors of the external ear are frequent. There is considerable discussion in the literature about the principles of surgical treatment. To find out whether ear preservation in these tumors is safe, a retrospective study was carried out in 77 consecutive patients with 91 tumors resected for suspicion of malignancy. In 70 patients the tumors were malignant. After three years, at review 62 of the 70 patients were alive, 59 (95.2%) were available for examination. Two of the 26 squamous cell carcinomas recurred, one of them in a patient with immunosuppression after kidney transplant. No metastatic disease was found. All ten patients with malignant melanoma — one of them with Breslow thickness >1.5 mm – were free of recurrence and metastasis after 49 months on average. One patient with Merkel cell carcinoma, however, died of metastatic disease to the neck, para-aortal and retroperitoneal lymph nodes. In conclusion, it is our experience that tumors of the external ear could be managed safely by conservative resection with intraoperative frozen section and meticulous long-term clinical follow-up. This allows for satisfactory preservation of the external ear.
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de Roche, R., Linden, M., Büchner, S.A. et al. Long-term experience with ear preservation in malignant tumors of the external ear. Eur J Plast Surg 19, 240–244 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00171877
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00171877