Biology of recurrent cholesteatoma in a Romanian young patient – a case report

Cholesteatoma is an otologic pathology that can occur at any age and can lead to a variety of complications including facial palsy, intracranial abscess, hearing loss, venous thrombosis. Cholesteatoma, even if considered a benign condition, associates high risks of recurrency due to its invasiveness. We describe a case of recurrent cholesteatoma in a young boy who presented chronic ear discharge and hearing loss for which had undergone three surgical interventions between the ages of 16 and 19 years old, from 2019 to 2022. Pediatric cholesteatoma is more prone to recurrency. Considering surgical excision as the only treatment at the current moment, it is highly important to understand the biology of cholesteatoma lesional extension for further treatment management improvement. Good research of angiogenesis, chronic inflammation and immune infiltration correlated with surgical approach may be the future for preventing cholesteatoma recurrency.