title: A case of lipoma arising in the eustachian tube.
abstract: We report a case of a lipoma inside the eustachian tube, an extremely rare location for this lesion. To the best of our knowledge, this is only the second such case that has been described in the literature. The patient was a 47-year-old man, a fighter pilot, who was referred to our hospital with a 3-year history of (1) fullness in the right ear secondary to recurrent serous otitis media and (2) right ear pain, which was especially acute during flights. Nasopharyngeal endoscopy, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging detected the presence of a well-encapsulated lesion inside the eustachian tube; macroscopic and radiologic findings identified the mass as a lipoma. The lesion was completely removed via transnasal endoscopy. Histopathologic evaluation confirmed the diagnosis of lipoma. The patient's postoperative course was favorable, and he was able to fly again without any ear complaints. Radiologic examination is useful for the diagnosis and preoperative evaluation of this benign tumor. Lesions located in the lower part of the eustachian tube can be easily removed via a transnasal endoscopic approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Erasme Hospital, Route de Lennik 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium. jdabiri@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dabiri
authors.forename: Georges
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Choufani
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Delpierre
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hassid
mesh_terms: D004428:Ear Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005064:Eustachian Tube / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008067:Lipoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057605:Natural Orifice Endoscopic Surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed