Ear
Inflammatory / infectious / autoimmune / systemic disorders
Idiopathic cystic chondromalacia of auricular cartilage
Author: Nat Pernick, M.D.
Last author update: 1 October 2013
Last staff update: 14 December 2020
Copyright: 2002-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Cystic chondromalacia of auricular cartilage
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Case reports | Treatment | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) images | Differential diagnosis | Additional referencesCite this page: Pernick N. Idiopathic cystic chondromalacia of auricular cartilage. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/earidiopathiccystic.html. Accessed June 3rd, 2023.
Definition / general
- Also called auricular or endochondral pseudocyst
- Benign cystic degeneration of auricular cartilage of unknown cause
- Usually men age 20 - 40 years
- Unilateral swelling of cartilage over weeks to years, most commonly on scaphoid fossa of auricle
- May be due to minor trauma
Case reports
- 32 year old man with auricular swelling (J Clin Pathol 1994;47:961)
Treatment
- Excision
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Fluid filled distended mass composed of cyst like wall with fibrous and granulation tissue lining but no epithelium
- Cyst contains 1 - 2 mm rim of cartilage
- Cyst fluid resembles olive oil
- No / mild atypia
Microscopic (histologic) images
Images hosted on other servers:
Central cystic degeneration of auricular cartilage
Factor VIII+ lining of pseudocyst
Differential diagnosis
- Chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis chronicus
- Relapsing polychondritis
- Subperichondrial hematoma
