Rhabdomyosarcoma of the Ear: A Cause for Suppurative Ear Diseases in Children

Abstract

RHABDOMYOSARCOMA is an uncommon tumor which rarely originates in the temporal bone spaces. Nineteen such cases have been reported by Davidson,¹ though undoubtedly there are numerous other reported cases of this tumor. Stout,² in 1946, delineated the histopathological features of the sarcomas of skeletal muscle origin and showed that it is possible to classify certain tumors as rhabdomyosarcoma despite an inability to demonstrate striations. Prior to this, cross striations had to be demonstrated before the diagnosis could be accepted. Horn and Enterline³ stated: Thus we have come to believe that rhabdomyosarcoma, while still not a common tumor, occurs much more frequently than was realized in the past. With the embryonal, botryoid, and alveolar tumors especially, the features that give the pathologists assurance of the diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma, longitudinal, and cross striations, are often found only after prolonged and painstaking search. The purpose of this publication is to