Attic Cholesteatoma Radiology

The external acoustic canal is a rare location for a cholesteatoma with an estimated incidence around 1 2 per 1 000 new otological patients.

Attic cholesteatoma radiology.

Findings are characteristic of an acquired cholesteatoma. Cholesteatoma is not a neoplasm and can be thought of most simply as skin in the wrong place. The overall incidence rate in one large study was 0 30 per year per 100 000 inhabitants 1. For comparison the annual incidence of middle ear cholesteatoma is around 9 2 per 100 000.

Diffusion weighted imaging is particularly useful when distinguishing a cholesteatoma from other middle ear masses. The mass extends superiorly into the attic and appears to have eroded through the tegmentum as well as through the fallopian canal of the facial nerve and perhaps the lateral semicircular canal. Keywords temporal bone cholesteatoma middle ear external auditory canal introduction a cholesteatoma is a cystic mass filled with keratin and lined by stratified squamous epithelium. On the adc map a low signal should be visible in the same area confirming the presence of diffusion restriction.

However the sequence is prone to artefact and care must be taken how the sequence is performed and interpreted 2. Radiopaedia is free thanks to our supporters and advertisers. Although a cholesteatoma is histologically identical to an epidermoid or epidermal. The signal intensity should be higher than visible on the dwi images with b value 0 s mm 2.