Pediatric cholesteatoma: a retrospective review

The optimal treatment for pediatric cholesteatoma is controversial. Management decisions including intact canal wall versus open cavity techniques, second look procedures and staging ossicular reconstruction continue to be debated. In an attempt to clarify this issue we conducted an 11-year retrospective analysis of our experience with cholesteatoma presenting in our pediatric population.

Retrospective review of children undergoing surgical intervention for cholesteatoma at a tertiary care pediatric hospital between 1 July 1992 and 1 July 2003 by the senior author.

Comparison of recurrence rates in intact canal wall (ICW) versus canal wall down (CWD) procedures; with analysis of second-look procedures, ossicular chain reconstruction (OCR) and hearing results in the management of pediatric cholesteatoma.

Two hundred and sixty-two children with 278 cases of cholesteatoma underwent surgical resection. Of these children, 221 were managed via an ICW approach while the remaining 57 underwent a CWD procedure. The overall recurrence rate in this series was 16%, with 17% in the ICW group and 12% in the CWD group. OCR was performed in 97% of the ICW cases at time of second-look procedure, with 75% undergoing reconstruction with partial ossicular reconstruction prosthesis. The average air-bone gap improvement in these patients was 10.8 dB, with an average hearing improvement of total ossicular reconstruction of 5.8 dB. The average hearing improvement in the CWD group, all managed with cartilage interposition grafts, was 3.7 dB.

Management of pediatric cholesteatoma requires a highly individualized approach that takes into account anatomic, clinical and social factors to determine the most successful surgical treatment paradigm.