title: Primary melanoma of the petrous temporal bone.
abstract: Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes that is predominantly found in the skin. In rare cases, it arises from mucosal melanocytes. We describe a case of a solitary melanoma of the petrous apex of the temporal bone in a 67-year-old woman who presented with sudden hearing loss, aural fullness, and headaches, all on the right side. Magnetic resonance imaging identified a mass located at the right petrous apex; the lesion was hyperintense on T1-weighted imaging and isointense on T2 weighting, and it enhanced brightly with gadolinium contrast. The patient underwent removal of the lesion via a transcochlear approach with facial nerve translocation. Intra- and postoperative pathology identified a poorly differentiated malignancy consistent with a melanoma. Further investigations found no evidence of metastasis. Given a concern for residual disease, the patient was treated with radiation to the primary site. To the best of our knowledge, only 1 other case of primary melanoma of the petrous apex has been described in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave., Campus Box 8115, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. jmcjunkin@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jonathan L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: McJunkin
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wiet
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000209:etiology; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008545:Melanoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D010579:Petrous Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012888:Skull Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed