[Cholesteatoma of the external and middle ear in the childhood].

The objective of the present work was to enhance the effectiveness of diagnostics of cholesteatoma of the external and middle ear in the children. The study included 66 patients presenting with chronic suppurative otitis media and one child having cholesteatoma of the external auditory meatus. All the patients were examined with the use of otoendoscopy and CT of the temporal bones. It was shown that the frequent occurrence of acute suppurative otitis media, exudative suppurative otitis media, and adhesive otitis media is the risk factor of the development of cholesteatoma of the external and middle ear in the children. The following CT features of cholesteatoma of the external ear were revealed: the sclerotic or mixed type of the mastoid process, the presence of pathological contents in the epitympanic space, homogeneous character of pathological contents in the antrum, widened aditus, caries of antrum walls, the presence of soft tissues around the auditory ossicles, destruction of the long process of the anval bone, and a soft-tissue structure in the external auditory meatus.