A rare vascular tumor of the external auditory canal: the capillary hemangioma.

A 32-year-old woman presented to our department with a 10-month history of right-sided intermittant otorrhagia. There was no history of hearing loss or pulsatile tinnitus. Otomicroscopic examination revealed a reddish mass arising from the right antero-superior portion of bony canal wall, which measured about 1 cm in diameter. The tympanic membrane seemed to be uninvolved. A computed tomography scan of the temporal bone showed 0.6 x 0.8 cm diameter soft-tissue mass arising from the right external auditory canal, 0.5 cm away from tympanic membrane. The lesion was excised via a transcanal approach under local anesthesia. The histopathologic assessment indicated a capillary hemangioma. There was no recurrence four years after the surgery. Hemangioma of the external auditory canal is a rare otologic entity. It is commonly classified as capillary or cavernous hemangioma. According to the literature, this case represents the second patient with capillary hemangioma of the external auditory canal.