title: Congenital cholesteatoma of mastoid origin.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We report an extremely rare case of congenital cholesteatoma of mastoid origin.
  
  
  METHODS
  A male patient was admitted with a one-month history of dizziness and headache, plus tinnitus in the right ear. Computed tomography scanning of the temporal bone showed destruction of the posterior wall of the external auditory canal by a lesion of soft tissue density in the right mastoid cavity, and also destruction of the bony plates of the posterior fossa and the sigmoid sinus, and of the mastoid tegmen. During surgery, a huge cholesteatoma sac was observed in the mastoid cavity, containing a large amount of keratinous material. The tegmen mastoideum and the bony plates of the posterior fossa and the sigmoid sinus were also observed to be destroyed. The skin and the tympanic membrane of the external auditory canal were intact, and the middle ear and aditus ad antrum mucosa were normal. The huge cholesteatoma sac was completely excised via a partial translabyrinthine approach, eradicating the superior and posterior semicircular canals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This case of congenital cholesteatoma of mastoid origin was diagnosed by clinical examination, radiological evaluation and surgical findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea. zoonox@nate.com
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jung
mesh_terms: D018424:Cholesteatoma, Middle Ear / Q000151:congenital* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D004244:Dizziness / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008416:Mastoid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000209:etiology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed