Cavernous hemangioma of the tympanic membrane.

Cavernous hemangioma seems to most frequently arise in the posterior portion of the external auditory canal. However, they rarely occur in the tympanic membrane. A 49-year-old male patient was referred for evaluation of right-sided pulsatile tinnitus that he'd experienced for the previous 2 years. Temporal bone computerized tomography showed an isolated soft tissue mass just lateral to the tympanic membrane. There was no evidence of bony erosion or middle ear invasion. The patient underwent excision of the mass using a postauricular approach. The mass was removed en bloc and the defect of the tympanic membrane was repaired by tympanoplasty type I. There was no recurrence after 1 year of follow-up.