[Pathology of the ear].

The ear comprises several different anatomic areas, each of which may be the primitive site or may be secondarily involved by different pathologies. Some lesions are frequent but are rarely biopsied (acute external or middle ear otitis); in others, the material obtained at surgery (for example in otosclerosis) may be poorly informative; others are rare but require precise pathologic diagnosis. A description of all ear pathologies is out of the focus of this paper. All the more, many lesions are not different when localized in the ear. Will be presented only lesions that are specific of the ear or rare lesions, lesions in which pathology helps to understand pathogenesis, and lesions that may represent a pitfall for the pathologist. After a short description of the anatomy and histology of the ear, the main lesions will be described for each anatomic area of the ear.