title: Fibrosis Within the Tympanic Membrane.
abstract: A primary mass lesion arising from the tympanic membrane is extremely rare. The authors report a patient of extensive fibrosis within the tympanic membrane in a 65-year-old woman who did not have a history of ear infection. The patient complained of slow progressing hearing loss on the left side without otorrhea or otalgia. Otoscopic examination showed a thick tympanic membrane with whitish mass-like bulge, and pure-tone audiometry revealed conductive hearing loss. The lesion was totally resected, and final findings of a histopathologic examination revealed extensive fibrosis with subsiding inflammation within the tympanic membrane. Fibrosis within the tympanic membrane may present with slow progressing conductive hearing loss and should be considered a possible differential diagnosis of mass lesions in the tympanic membrane.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery†Department of Pathology, Konkuk University Medical Center, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Young Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hye Seung
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Jung Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Chang-Hee
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000473:pathology; D006314:Hearing Loss, Conductive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D038781:Otoscopy; D014432:Tympanic Membrane / Q000473:pathology*