images in clinical medicine

Wien Klin Wochenschr

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-020-01772-0

Preauricular sinus
Satvinder Singh Bakshi · Seepana Ramesh

Received: 3 November 2020 / Accepted: 7 November 2020

© Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature 2020

Medical image asymptomatic; however, infection of the pit leads to

a discharging sinus or abscess. Recurrent infections
A 5-year-old female child presented with pain and can lead to cellulitis, perichondritis and hypertrophic
swelling in front of the left ear for 3 days. She had scar formation and are an indication of surgical exci-
a similar episode 2 years back. Examination revealed sion. Recurrence is common since the tract can have
a warm, tender swelling with a sinus at the root of he- extensive branching leading to incomplete removal.
lix of the left ear (Fig. 1). A diagnosis of infected preau-
ricular sinus was made and the patient was started on
oral amoxicillin. The swelling was aspirated and an-
tibiotics were continued for 7 days. Her symptoms
resolved and her parents were counselled for surgical
removal of the sinus.
Preauricular sinus is a congenital malformation
and first described by Van Heusinger in 1864 [1]. The
incidence varies from 0.3–0.9% and has an autosomal
dominant inheritance with incomplete penetrance
and variable expression. Both sexes are equally af-
fected and it is usually unilateral. It is usually seen
as a pit or depression near the external ear, most
commonly adjacent to the root of helix. It may be
associated with other congenital anomalies, such as
hearing loss or renal disorders (Branchio-oto-renal
syndrome). They develop due to incomplete fusion
of auricular hillocks or inversion of ectoderm dur-
ing development of the auricle. Most patients are

This paper has not been sent anywhere else for publication.
Dr. S. S. Bakshi, MS DNB () · Dr. S. Ramesh, MS
Dept of ENT and Head & Neck Surgery, All India Institute of
Medical Sciences Mangalagiri, 522503 Guntur, Andhra
Pradesh, India
saty.bakshi@gmail.com
Dr. S. Ramesh, MS
rameshseepana@rediffmail.com
Dr. S. S. Bakshi, MS DNB
House 1A, Selvam apartments, 71 Krishna nagar main
road, 605008 Pondicherry, India Fig. 1 Patient with sinus and swelling at the root of helix

K Preauricular sinus
 images in clinical medicine
Compliance with ethical guidelines
Conflict of interest S.S. Bakshi and S. Ramesh declare that
they have no competing interests.
Ethical standards For this article no studies with human par-
ticipants or animals were performed by any of the authors. All
studies performed were in accordance with the ethical stan-
dards indicated in each case. For images or other information
within the manuscript which identify the patient, informed
consent was obtained from the parents of the patient.
Preauricular sinus
References
1. KumarChowdaryKV,SateeshChandraN,KarthikMadeshR.
Preauricular sinus: a novel approach. Indian J Otolaryngol
Head Neck Surg. 2013;65(3):234–236. https://doi.org/10.
1007/s12070-012-0520-y.
Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard
to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional
affiliations.
K