Cholesteatoma
Cholesteatoma is a very common pediatric ear disease managed by the Ear and Hearing Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Cholesteatoma refers to a cyst-like growth of skin within the middle ear and mastoid compartments.
Treatment Options
The only treatment option at the present time is surgical removal of cholesteatoma. Left untreated, cholesteatomas eventually cause hearing loss and chronic refractory ear infections and can progress on to cause problems beyond the ear.
Management of cholesteatoma frequently involves a two-stage procedure in children. In the first stage, the cholesteatoma is cleaned from the middle ear and mastoid and an ear drum is commonly repaired with a graft. At the second stage, several months later, the middle ear and mastoid are examined for any residual/recurrent cholesteatoma and removed. If any ossicular damage was caused by the cholesteatoma, an artificial ossicular prosthesis is inserted at this time in order to try to improve the hearing.
The difficulty of successfully eradicating cholesteatoma from a child's ear is reflected in the numerous patients seen for consultation and management after treatment failure (recurrent cholesteatoma after surgery). The Ear and Hearing Center specializes in the management of these difficult cases in which more aggressive or extensive procedures may be required to obtain a dry and safe ear.
