a SciTechnol journal Case Report
Crowson et al., J Otol Rhinol 2013, 2:4
http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2324-8785.1000132
International Publisher of Science,
Technology and Medicine
Journal of
Otology & Rhinology
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Primary Angiosarcoma of the
Temporal Bone in a 55-year-
old Male with Audiovestibular
Symptoms
Matthew Gordon Crowson
1
, Kevin Higgins
1
, Vincent Lin
1
*,
Robert Yeung
2
and Simon Raphael
3
Abstract
We report a case of a 55-year-old man who presented with a
history of new audiovestibular symptoms in context of chronic right
ear and mastoid pain. Imaging demonstrated severe bony erosion
of the temporal bone, and urgent mastoidectomy revealed a mass
suspicious for spindle cell variant squamous cell carcinoma. An
extensive en-bloc resection was completed, and inal pathology
indicated high grade angiosarcoma. We detail the imaging and
pathological techniques employed that led to this diagnosis. This
is the eighth case of primary angiosarcoma of the temporal bone
reported in literature, and possibly the irst ever recorded in an adult
male.
Keywords
Angiosarcoma; Temporal bone; Skull base
*Corresponding author: Vincent Lin, Department of Otolaryngology-Head &
Neck Surgery, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Ave, Room
M1-102, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada, Tel: 416- 480-6100 (ext. 7251); Fax:
416- 480-5761; E-mail: Vincent.Lin@Sunnybrook.ca
Received: June 27, 2013 Accepted: September 15, 2013 Published: October
25, 2013
pain. He was treated with IV ceftazadime three weeks prior
for presumed osteomyelitis of the temporal bone. His facial
symptoms showed marginal improvement with a supplemental
1-week course of prednisone. A CT head & temporal bone scan
showed severe bony erosion with soft tissue illing mastoid
air cells with extension into the middle cranial fossa (Figure
1). One week later he was assessed in our clinic. He had an
incomplete right facial paralysis with a House Brackmann
score of III. His right external auditory canal was extremely
edematous and illed with granulation tissue. However, a
repeat CT scan was ordered and within a short time frame,
the bony erosion had progressed so a right mastoidectomy
was performed urgently. During surgery, some suspicious soft
tissue was noted illing mastoid air cells and extending into the
middle cranial fossa. Upon further exploration, this tissue was
found adherent to the middle cranial fossa dura with extension
onto the vertical segment of the facial nerve. The mass was
biopsied and debulked with some residual mass remaining on
the dura. Initial pathology frozen sections suggested spindle-
cell variant of squamous cell carcinoma.
A post-operative MRI of the head demonstrated
enhancement of the right temporal lobe dura with extension
right up to Meckel’s Cave (Figure 2). Posterior fossa dura also
enhanced, and a large amount of extradural mass was detected
in the infratentorial middle cranial fossa, the petrous apex, as
well as deep to the bony labyrinth. His facial nerve enhanced
up to the geniculate ganglion and into the internal auditory
canal.
An en-bloc resection was completed with middle
craniectomy, translabyrinthine/transotic approach to the
internal auditory canal and Meckel’s cave, facial nerve
sacriice at the internal auditory canal, modiied radical neck
dissection, parapharyngeal space dissection, parotidectomy
and anterolateral thigh lap reconstruction. The extradural
Introduction
Angiosarcoma is a rare malignant sot-tissue sarcoma
with a poor prognosis. he histological hallmarks under light
microscopy include cytologically atypical cells arranged in
iniltrating, anastomosing channels. Angiosarcomas represent
2% of all sot tissue sarcomas, and 50% of this sub-set are found
in the head and neck [1,2]. hese tumors most oten present on
the scalp as bruise-like cutaneous lesions with poorly deined
borders [3]. At the time of writing, there have only been 17
prior cases of primary intracranial angiosarcomas reported
in MEDLINE and other web databases [4,5]. We present
an extremely rare case of a temporal bone angiosarcoma
masquerading as osteomyelitis in a middle-age male.
Case Report
A 55-year-old insulin-dependent diabetic presented as an
outpatient to the department of otolaryngology with a history
of draining right ear, severe pain, vertigo, and acute facial
palsy in context of long-standing chronic right ear and mastoid
Figure 1: Axial (A) and coronal (B) CT images showing opaciication of the right
mastoid air cells and middle ear with extensive bone erosions.