Microtia

What it is

A congenital malformation of the external ear, seen more frequently in males, that occurs sporadically or is inherited, that is characterized by unilateral (79-93% of cases, 60% of which involve the right ear) or bilateral small and abnormally shaped auricles and that is often associated with atresia or stenosis of the ear canal, attention deficit disorders and delayed language development. The variation in auricle size ranges from grade I, where the auricle is simply smaller than normal, to grade IV, also known as anotia, where there is a complete absence of the external ear and of the auditory canal.

Key facts

Prevalence

1-5 / 10 000 (Specific population)

Age of onset

Infancy, Neonatal

Inheritance

Autosomal dominant, Autosomal recessive, Not applicable

Classified as

Morphological anomaly

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

Gene

ICD-10 codes

Related health topics

Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.

Cross-references