Ossified Ear Cartilages

Clinical Features

Kirsch (1953) described ossification of the external ears in grandfather, father and son. Ossification occurs with calcification of the ear cartilages in hereditary conditions such as diastrophic dysplasia (222600), cold sensitivity (120100), alkaptonuria (203500), and Keutel syndrome (245150). DiBartolomeo (1985) gave a full review of what he called 'the petrified auricle.' Among the systemic diseases associated with this finding are Addison disease and chronic relapsing polychondritis (von Meyenburg disease) (McKusick and Goodman, 1962; McKusick, 1964). DiBartolomeo (1985) described ossified ears in 2 men in their 70s who sustained severe frostbite earlier in life.