Pseudocyst of auricle - etiopathogenesis, treatement update and literature review

Pseudocyst of the pinna, a benign idiopathic cystic swelling is an uncommon condition. In the medline search there are over 113 cases reported in literature. Engel in 1966 reported the incidence in Chinese community. In this review article we describe the etiopathogenesis, demographic statistics and treatment modalities. This is a retrospective study of six cases treated by the senior author in the dept of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Apollo Hospital Chennai, South India between 1993 through 2003. There is preponderance of incidence in adult male (5 cases) and a single case in a female. The author highlights the modalities of treatment and opines that the surgical technique described by Lim et al, with little modification is the gold standard, which retains the architecture of the pinna. Conservative methods adopted by others have failed. © Association of Otolaryngologists of India 2006.