An analysis of lesion patterns of stapes footplates in otosclerosis

This paper deals with observation of the lesion patterns of stapes footplates among 387 stapedectomies,done initially in our hospital between 1962 and 1983.Among them lesions in the form of thin-plate were found in 192 ears（49.6%）;thick-plate in 156（40.3%）and obliterative-plate in 39（10.1%）. The relationship between lesion patterns and the age of patient at which the operation was done,the age of onset of the disorder,the time of deafness,the range of hearing loss and operative successful rate was analyzed.The following conclusions were drawn:（1）The peak operative age was from 30 to 49 years and the percentage of thinplate lesions increased and those of thickplate decreased with increase in the age of operation;（2）The percentage of thin-plate-type increased with the age of onset and contrarily that of thick-plate type and obliterative-plate type decreased with it;（3）there was no correlation between the duration of disease and the lesion patterns and also between the lesion patterns and hearing loss,but in thick and obliterative-plate type the air conduction lost more than 80 dB;（4）The result of operation was closely related to the lesion patterns,being completely satisfactory in thin-plate type but less in obliterative type.