Postauricular epidermoid and dermoid cysts in adults

Kabir Abdullahi,Abdullahi Mohammed

doi:10.4103/ejo.ejo_33_18

Kabir Abdullahi, Abdullahi Mohammed

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4103/ejo.ejo_33_18

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Abstract

BackgroundCompared with other cutaneous cysts of the head and neck region, postauricular epidermoid and dermoid cysts are rare, asymptomatic benign swellings.AimTo describe the clinical profile of postauricular dermoid and epidermoid cysts in adults.Patients and MethodsA descriptive retrospective study was conducted on patients older than 16 years, diagnosed histologically with postauricular epidermoid and dermoid cysts who presented to the Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria, from January 2005 to December 2017.ResultsA total of eight patients were reviewed: two (25%) males and six (75%) females. The age ranged from 22 to 55 years (mean age, 30.1±11.2 years). Most cases (seven, 87.5%) were epidermoid cysts. The mean duration of cystic swellings was 9.8±5.7 years. All the patients presented with asymptomatic postauricular extracranial cysts mostly at the left postauricular side (five, 62.5%).Complete surgical excision was carried out for all the lesions, and no recurrence was observed in the two (25%) patients who came for follow-up; the rest were lost to follow-up.ConclusionPostauricular cysts, mostly epidermoid cyst, are rare unilateral asymptomatic, extracranial swellings that are associated with a delay in seeking medical intervention.

Highlights

Epidermoid and dermoid cysts are developmental cutaneous cysts derived from trapped pouches of ectodermal, nearnormal folds or neural tube and surface ectodermal separation failure [1] and from traumatic implantation of squamous epithelium [2]
7% of dermoid and epidermoid cysts occur in the head and neck region [1,4]; the latter tend to be more common [1,5]
Studies on the head and neck epidermoid and dermoid cysts irrespective of the sites showed that they could occur at any age up to six decades [1,2,3,14]. These studies included all the age groups and the different sites of head and neck. This is in contrast to this present study, which involves only adults with postauricular epidermoid and dermoid cysts, and their ages were within six decades, which agrees with previous studies [1,2,3]

Summary

Background

Compared with other cutaneous cysts of the head and neck region, postauricular epidermoid and dermoid cysts are rare, asymptomatic benign swellings. Aim To describe the clinical profile of postauricular dermoid and epidermoid cysts in adults. Patients and methods A descriptive retrospective study was conducted on patients older than 16 years, diagnosed histologically with postauricular epidermoid and dermoid cysts who presented to the Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria, from January 2005 to December 2017. The mean duration of cystic swellings was 9.8±5.7 years. All the patients presented with asymptomatic postauricular extracranial cysts mostly at the left postauricular side (five, 62.5%). Conclusion Postauricular cysts, mostly epidermoid cyst, are rare unilateral asymptomatic, extracranial swellings that are associated with a delay in seeking medical intervention

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Patients and methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion