0:00

This is a patient who had incidental findings associated

0:04

with the pinna of the ear and the external auditory canal.

0:08

As we scroll in the soft tissue window, you notice that

0:11

there are calcifications associated with the

0:15

cartilage of the ear bilaterally, including

0:20

the cartilaginous portion of the external auditory canal.

0:24

And this is occurring on the right

0:25

side as well as the left side.

0:30

And it's pretty dramatic calcification.

0:33

If we look at it on bone window,

0:35

on coronal imaging, you see what looks like a bone

0:40

of the pinna of the ear, which is very unusual.

0:43

And you can see, though, in the walls of the external canal,

0:46

cartilaginous portion, calcification as well as extending

0:50

here towards the temporomandibular joint.

0:54

So what is in our differential diagnosis for

0:57

calcifications of the external auditory

1:00

canal and the external ear?

1:03

The differential diagnosis includes

1:07

some metabolic disorders including hyperparathyroidism.

1:11

So if you have a calcium-phosphorus dysmetabolism syndrome,

1:16

you could have calcification being deposited in

1:18

the soft tissues of the cartilage of the ear.

1:21

Additionally, we think about calcium

1:24

pyrophosphate deposition disease,

1:26

CPPD, and that is potentially another term that we

1:32

sometimes use as pseudogout, and that may also cause

1:36

calcification associated with cartilage

1:38

in these soft tissues.

1:40

Gout itself is another cause of dystrophic calcification

1:45

in soft tissues, and the other things would be things

1:48

related to trauma with dystrophic calcification,

1:53

frostbite with dystrophic calcification,

1:54

and sarcoidosis, which could also

1:58

have calcification in the soft tissues.

2:03

In this particular case, this was actually an inflammatory

2:07

disorder called relapsing polychondritis that the patient

2:12

was known to have and had these episodes of discomfort

2:16

in the external ear and external

2:19

auditory canal bilaterally.