Duplication of the External Auditory Canal—An Incidental Finding

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