Ear Anatomy and External Canal Conditions
Ear Anatomy and External Canal Conditions
Ear Anatomy and External Canal Conditions
Dr.Haytham ijla
Edited by : Ali Alhabash
ENT consultant
Jordanian board
Arab board
External ear : composed of auricle , external canal and the lateral wall of the
tympanic membrane.
Middle ear : Eustachian tube , middle ear cavity and mastoid ear cells.
Inner ear : cochlea and vestibular system (vestibule and semi-circular canal).
General compartments
• External
• Middle
• Inner
Function of the ear :
- Hearing
- Equilibrium.
External ear Function :
- Collection of the sound.
- Orientation of it.
- Cosmotic.
• Pinna (auricle) - Play a role in acoustic resonance.
• Understanding innervation is
important to understand referred
ear pain - The most organ recieve
referred pain is the ear.
- The most common
source of referred pain is
the teeth and TMJ.
Hellix , anti-hellix and the other surface markers arise from
the 2nd brachial arch.
Tragus from 1st brachial arch.
Pinna embryology
• Condensation of the mesoderm of
the 1st and 2nd
pharyngeal/brachial arches occurs
to give rise to 6 hillocks of His
• 20th week: It has reached adult
shape ﺳﻧوات ﻋﺷﺎن ﻣﺎ ﯾﺻﯾر ﺗﻧﻣر ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟطﻔل6 ﺑﻌض اﻟﺟراﺣﯾن ﺑﯾﺣﻛوا اﻧﮫ ﺗﻧﻌﻣل اﻟﻌﻣﻠﯾﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ
• 9 years: reach adult size (this is the
age of performing plastic surgery)
• Pre-auricular tag
• Remnant of one of the hillocks.
• Uncertain risk factor for hearing loss.
Pre-auricular sinus Sinus : external opening + blind ended
cavity (covered by epithelial line)
The difference between sinus and fistula
is that the fistula has 2 openings.
Cerumen
• Consists of desquamated epithelium
mixed with the sebum produced from
sebaceous glands and the watery
secretions of modified apocrine sweat
glands (apopilo-sebaceous unit)
• Acidic: bacteriostatic + fungostatic
• Contains lysozymes which are
bactericidal
The outer 1/3 of the canal contain hair
appendages while the medial part doesn't
contain.
2. support cells
(phalangeal cells
3. tectorial membrane –
acellular avascular
4. reticular lamina
Thanks