Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T10:29:16.405Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Morphology of a columellaform stapes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

C. Vande Maelea*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Anatomy and Embryology, University of Ghent
P. Van Cauwenberge
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Ghent.
P. Kluyskens
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Ghent.
L. Vakaet
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Anatomy and Embryology, University of Ghent
*
Dr. C. Vande Maele, M. D., Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, De Pintelann, 185, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.

Abstract

A columellaform stapes found in male patient 18 years old with a conductive hearing loss, has been examined by SEM and light microscopy. The ossicle was smaller than a normal stapes. The head was linked to the base by a crural plate, probably formed by the fusion of the material of the two crura. Microscopy showed a slightly less interwoven structure of the fibrillar bone present mainly at the cranial aspect of the crural plate. Honeycomb-like bone was confined to the caudal part of the crural plate. Microscopy revealed a cavity in the centre of the stapes at the transition between the base and the plate. During surgery, a bony structure was found linking the posterior side of the head of the stapes to the pyramidal eminence. Post-operative audiograms revealed improved hearing with some residual conductive loss of about 10 dB. This case illustrates that a columellaform stapes may occur without forming part of a syndrome.

Type
Clinical Records
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bast, T. H. and Anson, B. J. (1949) The temporal bone and the ear. Thomas, Springfield.Google Scholar
Brownson, R. J. and Marovitz, W. F. (1972) Scanning electron microscopy of normal human ossicles. Laryngoscope, 82: 355362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dass, R., Grewal, B. S. and Thapar, S. P. (1966) Human stapes and its variations. I. General features. Journal of Laryngology and Otology, 80: 1426.Google ScholarPubMed
Forney, W. R., Robinson, S. J. and Pascoe, D. J. (1966) Congenital heart disease, deafness, and skeletal malformations: a new syndrome? Journal of Pediatrics, 68: 1426.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graham, M. D. and House, H. P. (1975) Human stapes crura; Normal ultrastructure, scanning electron microscopical findings. Archives of Otolaryngology, 101, 548551.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graham, M. D. and Perkins, R. (1979) A scanning electron microscopic study of the normal human stapes. Annals of Otology Rhinology and Laryngology, 88: (suppl. 64): 114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kluyskens, P., Fiermans, L., Dekeyser, W. and Vakaet, L. (1976) A scanning electron microscopic study of the stapes in normal and in some pathological and experimental conditions. Acta Otolaryngologica, 81: 220227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kluyskens, P. and Mussche, R. A. (1979) An unusual case of stapes fixation. Acta oto-rhino-laryngologica belgica, 33: 922–926.Google Scholar
Leonard, J. R. and Alexander, D. W. (1968) Anatomic variations in the area of the oval window. Archives of Otolaryngology, 87: 6673.Google ScholarPubMed
Scheer, A. A. (1967) Correction of congenital middle ear deformities. Archives of Otolaryngology, 85: 269277.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed