Otosclerosis

What is it?

Otosclerosis is a disease (sometimes familial, sometimes not) in which calcifications occur in the middle or inner ear.

Symptoms

In addition to hearing loss , tinnitus and mild balance problems may occur.

• When the disease only occurs in the middle ear, there is a calcification of the flexible seal around the stirrup (one of the three ossicles) that allows the stirrup to vibrate smoothly. In this case, we can perform a stapedotomy.
• When the disease solely occurs in the inner ear (cochlea), only a hearing aid can bring improvement.
• In some people, the disease occurs in both places. In that case, a surgical intervention can partially solve the problem. A distinction is made through tuning fork tests and a hearing test (audiometry). We usually also order a CT scan.

Latest publication date: 02/04/2021
Supervising author: Dr Marin Eline