Ann Geriatr Med Res.  2018 Jun;22(2):88-93. 10.4235/agmr.2018.22.2.88.

A Study of Skin Disease of the External Ear in Older Adults According to Anatomical Location

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Neurosurgery, Chosun University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
  • 2Department of Dermatology, Chosun University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea. derm75@chosun.ac.kr

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Due to its anatomical location, the external ear is easily exposed and damaged due to trauma, weathering, and inflammation. Therefore, depending on the patient's age, different cutaneous diseases can occur. In addition, because of its small percentage of the overall body area, patients and doctors may miss observing dermatologic diseases of the ear. The purpose of this study was to provide information on the most common dermatologic diseases according to the location on the external ear.
METHODS
This retrospective study was conducted on patients who visited the Department of Dermatology of Chosun University Hospital in the past 7 years.
RESULTS
We included 269 patients and categorized their ear lesions according to 8 anatomical locations and 5 types of dermatologic diseases. In older patients over 60 years of age, the most common site of dermatologic disease was the postauricular region (33.9%), followed by the antihelix (19.4%), and earlobe (12.9%). The most common dermatologic disease was benign tumor (53.2%), followed by malignant and premalignant tumors (32.3% and 9.7%, respectively).
CONCLUSION
The proportion of older adults with premalignant and malignant diseases was relatively high and these were most commonly observed in the antihelix and postauricular area. Therefore, it is important to aware the need for the examination, diagnosis, and treatment of disease in the antihelix and postauricular area.

Keyword

Skin disease; External ear; Older adults

MeSH Terms

Adult*
Dermatology
Diagnosis
Ear
Ear, External*
Humans
Inflammation
Retrospective Studies
Skin Diseases*
Skin*
Weather
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