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Abstract
External ear development is a lengthy and complex process that extends from early embry-
onic life until well into the postnatal period . Initial development of the auricle and external
auditory canal during the fourth and fifth weeks of gestation is closely associated with anatom-
ical changes involving the pharyngeal arch apparatus of the human embryo . The auricle and
external canal are well formed by the time of birth but do not attain their full size and adult
configuration until about 9 years of age. Sebaceous and modified apocrine glands, which
are responsible for cerumen production, begin their development at about 5 months gesta-
tion in association with hair follicles in the outer portion of the external canal. Although they
appear anatomically mature before birth, these glands do not reach full functional capacity
until puberty.
s emphasized throughout this special while the fetal period is the interval from about
issue, the external ear plays an essential 8 weeks gestation to term .)
Arole in auditory function and occupies an The embryonic pharyngeal arch apparatus
important place in the clinical practice of audi- provides the structural foundation for formation
ology and otology. Its major components, the of the external ear. As illustrated in Figure 1, the
auricle and external auditory canal, receive pharyngeal arches are conspicuous external fea-
sound energy from the environment and provide tures of the human embryo and are significantly
some degree of directional and frequency selec- involved in various aspects of head and neck
tivity for the incoming sound stimulus . They development. The arches are obliquely oriented,
also serve to protect the tympanic membrane rounded ridges separated by prominent grooves
from mechanical injury and from abrupt changes or clefts . They correspond to the gill-bearing
in temperature and humidity. Various abnor- branchial arches of fishes that are separated
malities affecting the external ear, particularly by clefts through which water flows for delivery
those involving congenital defects, are best of oxygen to the gills . In mammalian embryos,
understood from a developmental perspective . the pharyngeal arch apparatus never assumes
This article offers a brief overview of pre- and a respiratory function and no communication is
postnatal development of the external ear to normally established between the pharynx and
serve as a point of departure for further discus- the pharyngeal clefts as occurs in the branchial
sion of its anatomy, physiology, and pathology. arch system of fishes . The clefts do, however,
External ear development is a process that come into close relationship with outpocketings
begins in embryonic life, progresses through of the pharynx known as the pharyngeal
the fetal period to the time of birth, and continues pouches. In fact, it is the first of these pouches
postnatally until the age of puberty, when the that eventually elongates to form the tubotym-
glands of the external canal become fully func- panic recess, from which the eustachian tube and
tional . (As usually defined, the embryonic phase middle ear cavity develop.
of human development extends from 2 weeks ges- By the end of the fourth week of gestation,
tational age up to the seventh or eighth week, four well-defined pairs of pharyngeal arches are
externally visible in the neck region of the human
embryo (see Fig. 1) . The first two of these, the
*Callier Center for Communication Disorders, Univer- mandibular and hyoid arches, are important
sity of Texas at Dallas, and the Department of Otorhino- contributors to external ear development. Dur-
laryngology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical
ing the fifth gestational week, nodular swellings
Center, Dallas, Texas
Reprint requests: C.G . Wright, Callier Center for Com- of tissue known as the hillocks of His appear on
munication Disorders, 1966 Inwood Rd ., Dallas, TX 75235 the first and second pharyngeal arches . Six such
379
Journal of the American Academy of Audiology/Volume 8, Number 6, December 1997
wborympanic
First "'j~1r~ . recast
pharyngeal ~~ and
primitive pooch
-^~-sIranchlal
~ arch
external
a oostic
maws ,~m~ ," -~ty,paaic
membrane
Antitragus
structures . In the eighth week, the developing
external canal deepens further to once again
approach the middle ear space. Shortly there-
Figure 2 A, lateral view of the head of an embryo after, the ectodermal lining of the deep portion
showing the six auricular hillocks (hillocks of His) sur- of the primitive earcanal proliferates to form a
rounding the dorsal end of the first pharngeal cleft. B, C,
solid tissue structure called the meatal plate
and D illustrate the fusion and progressive development
of the hillocks into the adult auricle. (Reprinted with
(or meatal plug), which fills the medial portion
permission : Sadler TW. (1985) . Langman's Medical of the canal (see Fig. 3C). The meatal plate ends
Embryology . 5th ed . Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins.) in a rounded, disc-shaped swelling that lies
380
External Ear Development/Wright
immediately adjacent to the middle ear. Accord- Nishimura and Kumoi (1992) found that the
ing to some accounts of external ear develop- meatal plate begins to open during the 13th
ment, the meatal plate remains intact until the week of gestation and that the external canal is
21st to 28th week of gestation, when it hollows fully patent throughout its entire length in the
out due to maturational changes affecting its cen- 18-week fetus. These findings are also consistent
tral cells. Continued canalization of the meatal with earlier observations from Anson and Don-
plate produces the medial two-thirds of the aldson (1973) . The timing of canalization of the
definitive external auditory canal. The innermost meatal plate is therefore not yet fully resolved
portion of the meatal plate becomes the outer and is an aspect of external auditory canal devel-
layer of the tympanic membrane . opment that needs further study.
Recent evidence indicates that canalization As noted above, the outer, or epidermal,
of the meatal plate may occur considerably ear- layer of the tympanic membrane is derived from
lier in gestation than is widely believed . In a the ectoderm of the meatal plate. The inner
recent study that focused on this question, layer, facing the middle ear cavity, is a derivative
381
Journal of the American Academy of Audiology/Volume 8, Number 6, December 1997
of the first pharyngeal pouch and the intermedi- Acknowledgment. The author is grateful to Karen S.
ate layer develops as a condensation of embryonic Pawlowski for the drawings used in Figure 1 and for
connective tissue (mesenchyme) that separates histologic processing of the tissue specimens shown in Fig-
ures 4 and 5.
the inner and outer layers . The three-layered
structure of the tympanic membrane is illus-
trated diagramatically in Figure 3D . REFERENCES
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