| Description |
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A cholesterol granuloma is not a disease but a specific foreign-body granulomatous response to cholesterol crystals, which are frequently formed in the submucosal tissues of patients with chronic otitis media.
Cholesterol, when in solution, is a normal component of the body's intermediate metabolism. However, when cholesterol accumulates within the tissues in a high enough concentration, it will crystallize.
Cholesterol crystals act as foreign bodies, and they incite a strong foreign-body granulomatous reaction from the tissue in which they form. Cholesterol crystals can be formed in any location where there has been cellular degeneration, i.e. the site of a prior hemorrhage, degenerating inflammatory cells, or necrotic inflammatory tissue. |
