Preauricular Angioleiomyoma
An 85-year-old man presented to the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at our hospital with hearing difficulty in his left ear. Pure tone audiometry showed left sensorineural hearing loss. During the physical examination of the ear, a small round cystic mass was found on the left preauricular area (). It did not hurt and was not tender. The patient had noticed the mass about 6 months previously and it had grown slowly. No similar lesion was found on his body. His medical and family histories were unremarkable.\nAfter informed consent was obtained, the lesion was completely excised under local anesthesia in the operation room for differential diagnosis and cosmetic purposes. Grossly, the specimen was a 1.4×1.0×0.7 cm firm, spherical mass with a white-gray, solid cut surface. Microscopic examination revealed that the tumor was a well-defined nodule of smooth muscle bundles containing thick-walled blood vessels (). No significant cellular atypia or mitotic activity was observed. Based on histological findings, the pathologic diagnosis of venous type angioleiomyoma was made. No evidence of a recurrence was observed 6 months after surgery.