The occurrence of a case of eosinophilic granuloma in the temporal bone of a child has interested me, and caused me to survey the literature and study the present concepts of this rare disorder.
Eosinophilic granuloma is a locally destructive lesion. When it involves the temporal bone it is usually associated with pain and serosanguinous discharge from the ear. It is characterized, clinically, by a soft and friable granulation tissue occluding the external auditory meatus and, radiologically, by punched-out areas in the bone. Reports on such lesions by Schuknecht and Perlman,9 Dingley,4 and Dawes3 have established the disease as a distinct entity.
Pathology
Microscopically, the involved area contains a friable brownish-white granulation tissue. The outstanding feature is an occurrence of a large number of histiocytes,