The nature of the epithelium in acquired cholesteatoma.

Monoclonal antibodies with defined specifications for individual cytokeratins were used to stain the epithelia of the external auditory meatus, the middle ear and cholesteatoma. The observed staining indicated that the epithelium of the external auditory meatus has a pattern of keratin expression typical of epidermis in general and the epithelium of the middle ear resembles simple columnar epithelia. The pattern of staining of cholesteatoma closely resembled that of the skin of the external auditory meatus.