Unilateral auricular multiple trichoepitheliomas: a case report and review of literature

Background Trichoepithelioma is a rare benign tumor. It could be an inherited or acquired condition. Trichoepithelioma has mostly involved the face with bilateral multiple lesions. Involvement of the auricle by this tumor is extremely rare encountered in clinical practice. Case presentation A 36-year-old female presented to the Dermatology Clinic with painless right auricular papules 4 years ago. Examination revealed multiple non-tender, firm, rounded, dome-shaped, flesh-colored, pink, and shiny papules. There was mild bleeding from the lesions after trivial trauma. There was no family history of similar problem. No abnormality was found on other examinations. An excisional biopsy of one lesion was performed under local anesthesia. The histopathological evaluation confirmed the diagnosis of trichoepithelioma. The lesions under local anesthesia were excised with primary closure of the wound. No recurrence was seen during 2 years of follow-up. Conclusion Only five cases of trichoepitheliomas that affected the auricle were reported in the PubMed database. Four of them are affecting both auricles as well as other parts of the body, particularly the face. The fifth case was with a unilateral single giant auricular lesion. Our case was with non-familial multiple unilateral auricular trichoepitheliomas. The tumors responded well on surgical excision and primary closure.