Surgical finding of a large cholesteatoma on the same patient. About a dozen patients with life-threatening complications were treated in Kalikot.Cholesteatoma is a chronic suppurative disease of the middle ear. Proliferation of squamous epithelium of the ear canal spreads into the middle ear with bone destruction.The ear canal is lined with squamous epithelium. The tympanic membrane usually separates the inner ear from the ear canal. If this barrier is broken, squamous cells can grow into the tympanic cavity. The resulting growths resemble epidermoid cysts. A chronic inflammation ensues, maintained by impaired clearing of secretions and bacterial superinfection (often Pseudomonas aeruginosa). This process can be complicated by involvement and destruction of bones of the middle and inner ear.Source: Surgery Dr. Eberle