Duplication of the External Auditory
Canal—An Incidental Finding
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Abstract
A 25-year-old who presented in our facility with 2 weeks history
of right-sided mild otalgia associated with fluctuating
hearing loss and ear itching. No otorrhoea, tinnitus, nor vertigo.
Fiber-optic endoscopic otoscopy done revealed an
impacted wax in the right ear and normal otoscopy in the left
ear. She had aural syringing done, and a repeated otoscopy
revealed a dual external auditory canal (EAC; Figure 1). Both
canals ended at the tympanic membrane, which was dull and
retracted. The patient felt a great relief in the symptoms after
the syringing. She was followed up for 3 months without any
untoward complication.
External auditory canal develops from the groove of the first
branchial arch. This groove deepens and meets the tubotympanic
recess of the endoderm and mesoderm contributes from the
sides. The plate of tissue thus formed is called a meatal plug,
this recanalizes and the EAC is formed. This in-utero recanalization
process has a variable outcome and may produce a
variation in the lumen of the EAC. Plus during the course of
development, the EAC descends downward creating further
angulations of the cana