Microsurgical Management of Middle Ear and Petrous Bone Cholesteatoma

The cholesteatoma, strictly speaking a cyst and not a cancer, nevertheless shows expansive and destructive growth patterns that may give rise to serious symptoms and consequences, including fatality, not unlike those seen for malignant neoplasms. The great challenge of therapy is to eradicate the pathologic growth while preserving hearing and other critical functions of the middle ear and petrous bone, respecting the proximity of vital neural and vascular structures, and the intricate three-dimensional relationships involved.