Temporal bone rhabdomyosarcoma mimicking chronic suppurative otitis media

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is one of the most commonly encountered soft-tissue sarcomas in childhood. The most common location is in the head-and-neck region, followed by the urogenital system, extremities, and torso. Head and neck is a common site though the temporal bone is an extremely rare site with only a few reported cases in the literature till now. Herein, we report a case of a sclerosing type of temporal bone RMS in an 8-year-old young girl. We discuss clinical, pathological, radiological findings and management of temporal bone RMS. Misdiagnosis is common because of this aggressive temporal bone lesion's similarity to more common benign diseases. Clinicians should maintain suspicion for RMS in patients with chronic otitis media not responsive to medical therapy and should refer a specialist multidisciplinary team in a timely manner as an early diagnosis will optimize the chance of survival. Clinical features, radiologic findings, and histopathological examination using immunohistochemistry are all important for the correct diagnosis of temporal bone RMS. It is important to be aware of and to know how to deal with such rare cases.