This is a report of a 32-year-old woman who presented with a hidradenoma papilliferum of the external auditory canal. The lesion bears a marked histologic resemblance to vulvar hidradenoma papilliferum and to intraductal papillioma of the breast and, as in the latter neoplasm it may malignancy. However, these are benign tumours and warrant only local resection. Clinical symptoms related to obstructure of the external ear and some hearing loss.

This report emphasizes again the variety of neoplasms which occur under the generic name of ceruminoma. It is recommended that each of these tumours be classified according to its characteristic histologic features and that the term ceruminoma, as used at present, be abandoned.

Adenomas of the ceruminous glands located in the external auditory canal are rare tumours (Batsakis et al., 1967; Cankar and Crowley, 1964; Pluec, 1977). About forty cases have so far been reported in the literature (Dehner and Chen, 1980). The histological classification of these benign ceruminous tumours is similar to that used for sweat gland tumours in other locations (Neldner, 1968; Pahor and O'Hara, 1975; Wetli et al., 1978).

The most common type demonstrates features of glandular or tubular adenoma with epithelial structures which are similar to those of normal apocrine glands (Althaus and Ross, 1970; Anagnostou et al., 1974; Leitner, 1952; Camkar and Crowley, 1964). The second type of benign ceruminoma is the pleomorphic adenoma (Mark and Rothberg, 1951; Smith and Duarte, 1962; Pahor and O'Hara, 1975). Its histogenesis from ceruminous or ectopic salivary glands is still debated.

The purpose of this paper is to report still another type of benign ceruminoma, namely the hidradenoma papilliferum which so far has only been mentioned as a theoretical possibility (Dehner and Chen, 1980).