bone conduction in otosclerosis-operated versus non-operated ears

Objective: To examine whether stapes surgery improves long-term bone conduction in patients with otosclerosis. Setting: Tertiary university hospital. Methods: Thirty patients (52 ears) who underwent stapedectomy between 1988 and 1994. Hearing tests were performed pre-operatively and 5 years postoperatively. Results: The operated ears showed significant improvement in speech reception threshold and air conduction (250-4,000 Hz). Over the follow-up period, there were no significant differences in bone conduction thresholds between the operated and non-operated ears and no deterioration during follow-up in both bilateral and unilateral disease. Conclusions: This series did not provide evidence that the deterioration in bone conduction over the follow-up period in otosclerotic ears exceeds the level that can be explained by presbycusis and the Carhart effect. However, the follow-up time may have been insufficient. Stapedectomy appears to have no effect on bone conduction in this patient group. The similar bone conduction thresholds in the nonoperated and operated ears in unilateral otosclerosis at the end of follow-up suggest that the thresholds in the non-operated ears approached those in the operated ones.