Abstract
We report herein on the 20th case in Japan of a carcinoid tumor observed in the middle ear. The patient was a 71-year-old man who was first seen in our hospital in November 2012 for tinnitus of 3 years’ duration. On otoscopic examination, a white mass was observed through the tympanic membrane. The computed tomography demonstrated a tumor like lesion with no evidence of bone destruction. We first performed a probe tympanotomy and pathologically the lesion was diagnosed as a carcinoid tumor of the middle ear. We subsequently performed a tympanoplasty and completely removed the tumor. Recently, somatostatin receptor imaging has become available to detect metastasis or recurrence of carcinoid tumors. We think somatostatin receptor imaging may be appropriate for assessing carcinoid tumors of the middle ear.
