Whittemore KR, Cohen M. Imaging and review of a large pre-auricular pilomatrixoma in a child. World J Radiol 2012; 4(5): 228-230 [PMID: 22761984 DOI: 10.4329/wjr.v4.i5.228]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Kenneth R Whittemore, Jr, MD, MS, Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Enhancement, Children’s Hospital Boston, 333 Longwood Avenue, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02155, United States. kenneth.whittemore@childrens.harvard.edu
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
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World J Radiol. May 28, 2012; 4(5): 228-230 Published online May 28, 2012. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v4.i5.228
Imaging and review of a large pre-auricular pilomatrixoma in a child
Kenneth R Whittemore, Michael Cohen
Kenneth R Whittemore, Department of Otolaryngology and Communications Enhancement, Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, MA 02115, United States
Kenneth R Whittemore, Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, MA 02115, United States
Michael Cohen, Department of Otolaryngology, Boston University Medical Center, Boston, MA 02118, United States
Author contributions: Whittemore KR and Cohen M contributed equally to this work; Whittemore KR and Cohen M prepared, edited and reviewed the final manuscript.
Supported by Children’s Hospital Boston
Correspondence to: Kenneth R Whittemore, Jr, MD, MS, Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Enhancement, Children’s Hospital Boston, 333 Longwood Avenue, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02155, United States. kenneth.whittemore@childrens.harvard.edu
Telephone: +1-617-3552415 Fax: +1-617-7300320
Received: March 14, 2012 Revised: April 13, 2012 Accepted: April 20, 2012 Published online: May 28, 2012
Abstract
A 10-year-old girl presented with a mildly tender mass in the right preauricular region. The mass became larger, and the overlying skin turned purple. There was no clinical response to a course of either cephalexin or clarithromycin. The remainder of the head and neck examination was normal including normal facial nerve function. Lyme titers and a computed tomographic (CT) scan with contrast of the facial region were obtained. The CT scan demonstrated the lesion to be superficial to the parotid gland. The lyme titer was elevated and doxycycline was begun. The mass appeared to reduce in size after doxycycline treatment, but then grew and turned erythematous. The lesion was surgically excised and was vascular with calcification and cheesy inclusions. The mass was quite close to the skin and the clinical diagnosis at the time of surgery was a pilomatrixoma, which was corroborated on pathological evaluation.
