Abstract:Objective To investigate the clinical effect of subtotal temporal bone resection for adenoid cystic carcinoma of external auditory canal.Methods Clinical data of 8 patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma of external auditory canal treated in our department from 2015 to 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Two males and 6 females were included, aged 33-76 years with an average age of 55.6. As for the clinical presentations, 7 cases had earache, 6 cases had mass in the external auditory canal, 6 had ear discharge, 6 had hearing loss, and one had facial paralysis. The mean time from the initial symptom to diagnosis was 2.75 years. Five cases had been misdiagnosed and 3 mistreated. Six patients underwent subtotal temporal bone resection and superficial parotid gland resection, and two received subtotal temporal bone resection and total parotid gland resection.Results During the perioperative period, local incision infection occurred in one case and cerebrospinal fluid leakage occurred in another. The mean follow-up was 4.34 years. Six patients survived without cancer. One recurrent patient developed local recurrence with pulmonary metastasis 3 years after the second operation in our hospital, and is now living with tumor after radiotherapy. One patient died of other disease 3.5 years after treatment.Conclusions The early symptoms of adenoid cystic carcinoma of external auditory canal are atypical and easy to be misdiagnosed. Subtotal temporal bone resection should be performed to achieve complete resection of the tumor with simultaneous management of parotid gland. Postoperative radiotherapy is also an alternative supplementing means for this tumor.
