Abstract
Although carcinoid tumors are labeled as neuroendocrine tumors they can also originate in tissue lacking neuroendocrine cells, such as that in the middle ear. Symptoms of a carcinoid tumor in the middle ear are common ear symptoms such as fullness, pain and hearing loss. Carcinoid tumors have also been considered to be slow-growing. Both these aspects can easily lead to a relatively late diagnosis of carcinoid tumor of the middle ear. The diagnosis is made histologically, and the tumor is primarily treated surgically. In the follow-up of patients, octreotide scanning has proved to be a sensitive method in cases of both recurrence and metastasis. Our patient was a 34-year-old, otherwise healthy female with left-sided acute otitis media and facial palsy in her left ear. She had also suffered from the same symptoms 4 years earlier. She was treated with an operation, and the histologic diagnosis was a carcinoid tumor. In the follow-up of the patient we used octreotide scanning.
Nikanne E, Kantola O, Parviainen T. Carcinoid tumor of the middle ear. Acta Otolaryngol 2004; 124: 754–757.
Nikanne E, Kantola O, Parviainen T. Carcinoid tumor of the middle ear. Acta Otolaryngol 2004; 124: 754–757.