Abstract
Acquired atresia of the external ear canal frequently occurs at either the aperture or the cartilaginous portion of the ear canal and usually originates either posttraumatically, postoperatively or after an inflammation. In this study, five ears of three cases with postinflammatory atresia are reported. The atresia occurred due to a thickening of the ear drum at the bony portion which looked very similar to either the superficial tympanic membrane or lateral healing after myringoplasty. Regarding etiological factors, chronic otitis media in three ears of two cases and chronic otitis externa in two ears of one case were suspected. We operated on four ears and a thick fibrous tissue was removed from the deep portion of the ear canal. However, the tympanic cavities were almost normal in all ears. The exposed bony surface was covered with a Thiersch graft and provided good results. Histopathological studies revealed chronic inflammatory changes in one ear and fibroadipose tissue with no clear inflammatory findings in three ears, and all of these complications were difficult to explain. Further studies are therefore considered necessary in order to better elucidate this problem.
