Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Manifesting Solely as a Vascular External Ear Mass

This is a rare case report of a 57 year old lady who came to our hospital with left ear fullness and tinnitus of three months duration. Clinical examination showed a soft, reddish, compressible mass filling the left ear canal that was bleeding to touch. Contrast Computed Tomography (CT) Scan of temporal bones revealed a mass in the left external auditory canal eroding the floor of the canal extending into the mastoid antrum and abutting the descending facial nerve canal. The patient underwent an angiography and feeders from the mastoid and posterior auricular branch of the left occipital artery were embolised. Subsequently, mastoid exploration was done and the lesion was excised. Histopathology was reported as a case of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Unprecedented manifestation of head and neck metastasis of renal cell carcinoma is discussed along with a relevant literature review.