ATRESIA OF THE EXTERNAL AUDITORY CANAL

Abstract

Although atresia of the external auditory canal is not common, it is seen with sufficient frequency to merit more consideration than is devoted to it in textbooks and reference books on otology and plastic surgery. Beck, in an article in the textbook of Jackson and Coates,¹ dismissed the subject with this brief statement: The variety of defect or deformity [of the external ear] will range from a closure by a diaphragm of the canal or a small tubercle on the pinna to complete absence of the auricle and a complete obliteration of the canal. Ballenger and Ballenger² devoted two pages to the subject and quoted extensively from Richards.³ Morrison⁴ referred his readers to Joseph's⁵ book on plastic surgery for a detailed description of the condition and its correction, but reference to this text reveals an extreme paucity of information ! Barsky⁶ stated: ... The simplest method of restoring the external