title: Metallic foreign body in middle ear: an unusual cause of hearing loss.
abstract: This is a rare case report of a foreign metallic body found in the middle ear. During the use of an electric welding by a metalworker, a glowing drop of dissolved metal overrun, burning the skin of his external auditory meatus, perforated the tympanic membrane and finally was implanted around the ossicles as a foreign body. Due to difficulty of the physical examination and the moderate symptoms (hearing loss and sense of fullness), the foreign body was detected six months after the incident, by CT scanning and it was removed by a transcanal approach under general anesthesia. A successful ossiculoplasty-tympanoplasty was followed four weeks later.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, G. Gennimatas Hospital, Athens Greece. aegika@yahoo.gr
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eleftheriadou
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chalastras
authors.forename: Dionysios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kyrmizakis
authors.forename: Sotirios
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sfetsos
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dagalakis
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kandiloros
mesh_terms: D000062:Accidents, Occupational; D000328:Adult; D004432:Ear, Middle; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008670:Metals; D011859:Radiography; D014896:Welding
chemical_list: D008670:Metals