RESEARCH ARTICLE
Bilateral Temporal Bone Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis: Radiologic Pearls
Mira A. Coleman1, Jane Matsumoto2, Carrie M. Carr2, Laurence J. Eckel2, Amulya A. Nageswara Rao3, *
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2013Volume: 7
First Page: 53
Last Page: 57
Publisher ID: TONIJ-7-53
DOI: 10.2174/1874440001307010053
Article History:
Received Date: 19/9/2013Revision Received Date: 23/12/2013
Acceptance Date: 26/12/2013
Electronic publication date: 30/12/2013
Collection year: 2013

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare histiocytic disorder with an unpredictable clinical course and highly varied clinical presentation ranging from single system to multisystem involvement. Although head and neck involvement is common in LCH, isolated bilateral temporal bone involvement is exceedingly rare. Furthermore, LCH is commonly misinterpreted as mastoiditis, otitis media and otitis externa, delaying diagnosis and appropriate therapeutic management. To improve detection and time to treatment, it is imperative to have LCH in the differential diagnosis for unusual presentations of the aforementioned infectious head and neck etiologies. Any lytic lesion of the temporal bone identified by radiology should raise suspicion for LCH. We hereby describe the radiologic findings of a case of bilateral temporal bone LCH, originally misdiagnosed as mastoiditis.