title: [Referred earache; an important symptom of head-and-neck cancers].
abstract: Otalgia is a common symptom in general practice and represents the sensation of pain in the ear. In four patients, three women aged 63, 57 and 37 years, and a man aged 64 years, ear pain was found to be caused by laryngeal carcinoma (two patients), oropharyngeal carcinoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (in a Turkish patient). Referred otalgia is an earache that is caused by a nonotologic source. In many cases it is difficult to identify the underlaying disease of referred otalgia. It may be the first symptom of a head-and-neck carcinoma. In case of otalgia with normal otologic findings, the differential diagnostic process must be specifically directed to the common sensory innervation of the ear and the head-and-neck structures. By carefully taking the patient's history with special attention to epidemiological factors such as smoking and drinking habits, racial traits, a positive family history of head-and-neck neoplasms and accompanying complaints and by performing repeated ENT examination including advanced imaging techniques, long delay in diagnosing head-and-neck cancer can be prevented.
authors.affiliation: Nederlands Kanker Instituut/Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Ziekenhuis, afd. KNO-heelkunde/Hoofd-Halschirurgie, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: de Bondt
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Balm
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Hilgers
authors.forename: I B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004423:Ear / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D004433:Earache / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D009333:Neck / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D009434:Neural Pathways; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy
vernacular_title: Gerefereerde oorpijn; een belangrijk oncologisch signaal in het hoofd-halsgebied.