Clinical analysis of following laterial temporal bone resection for 10 external auditory canal carcinomas classified as cT1–2 by the Pittsburgh staging system

Abstract

Between 2007 and 2017, we performed lateral temporal bone resection for 10 external auditory canal carcinomas classified as cT1-2 by the Pittsburgh staging system, and examined postoperative complications and treatment outcomes. The clinical stages were T1 in eight cases and T2 in two cases. The histopathological diagnosis was squamous cell carcinoma in all cases. The median follow-up period was 41.6 months. Postoperative histological examinations confirmed margin negative in all cases, thus no case underwent postoperative adjuvant therapy. Postoperative complications were facial nerve paresis, and failure of the sutures and cerebrospinal fluid leakage in one case, respectively. However, both were salvageable and there were no permanent complications. One case with recurrence of neck lymph node underwent neck dissection and was salvaged. In addition, there were no cases of recurrence or distant metastasis. This study revealed that lateral temporal bone resection is safe and a good indicator of external auditory canal carcinoma staged as cT1-2 by the Pittsburgh staging system.