Polyotia: the Confusing Auricular Malformation

Polyotia: the Confusing Auricular Malformation:



Objective:

Polyotia is a very rare auricular malformation, and only few cases have been reported to date. Polyotia has been ambiguously defined, and due to the instability of its shape and condition, no uniform surgical technique has been established up to now. Thus, it is necessary to standardize the diagnosis and treatment of polyotia. The aim of the present study was to present a new set of objective diagnostic criteria for discussion, and introduce our surgical design for polyotia.

Methods:

A retrospective analysis was performed on 34 cases of polyotia, which were diagnosed and treated in our Plastic Surgery Department during a 3-year period from January 2016 to March 2019. The preoperative photographs, manifestations and operation records of these 34 cases were reviewed.

Results:

On the basis of the new set of objective diagnostic criteria, only 12 of 34 cases were diagnosed as polyotia, while the remaining 22 cases were diagnosed as accessory tragus. Polyotia was redefined as the presence of a broad-based accessory auricle in the tragus area along with accessory cavitas conchae similar to cavitas conchae. The new surgical design emphasized the use of cartilage and skin to fill up the concavity and reconstruct the tragus.

Conclusions:

The diagnosis of polyotia was presented on the basis of a new set of objective criteria, which include an accessory auricle and accessory cavitas conchae. The use of cartilage and skin to fill up the concavity and reconstruct the tragus were the emphases.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Lin Qiu, Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, No. 136 Zhongshan Er Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China; E-mail: qiulin118@126.com, 535538769@qq.com

Received 28 March, 2020

Accepted 12 August, 2020

XY and XZ contributed equally to this work and are considered co-first authors.

The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of our hospital.

The parents of all participants provided written informed consent for surgery.

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

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© 2020 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.