The 65 cholesteatomas operated on in children showed a more expansive and rapid growth than those in adults. In one fifth of the cases cholesteatoma filled the whole air-cell area, which was wide in half of the children. Fifty-two ears of these children had an attic or a posterosuperior perforation. One case was complicated by a fistula in the horizontal semicircular canal, and the ossicular chain was unbroken in 23 cases (35%). Thus, the findings support the idea of the primary soft-tissue spread of cholesteatoma in children. Five ears (8%) discharged postoperatively, and three ears (5%) were reoperated on and showed residual tympanal cholesteatoma. Cavity obliteration with canal wall down technique proved safe, even in the cases of the most extensive and active cholesteatoma.