HypothesisHistopathologic examination of temporal bones from patients who had undergone stapedectomy may provide information concerning the causes of both residual and recurrent conductive hearing loss (CHL).BackgroundAlthough closure of the air-bone gap to within 10 dB occurs in approximately 90% of primary stapedectomies, a residual CHL occurs in approximately 10% and recurrent CHL may occur in up to 35% of cases. Putative causes of failure of surgery as determined during revision include erosion of the incus, bony regrowth at the oval window, and displacement of the prosthesis. Most reports on the histopathologic findings of temporal bones from such patients have focused on complications of surgery, with little attempt to correlate postoperative air-bone gap with the observed histopathology.MethodsA retrospective review of the author's collection of temporal bones ascertained 22 cases with postoperative CHL of 10 dB or greater (air-bone gap averaged at 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz, using postoperative air-and bone-conduction levels) after stapedectomy. These temporal bones were prepared by standard methodology for light microscopy.ResultsOf the 22 cases with postoperative CHL equal to or greater than 10 dB, there were 19 with residual CHL, 2 with recurrent CHL, and 1 with both residual and recurrent CHL. The most common histopathologic correlates of residual and recurrent hearing loss included resorptive osteitis of the incus (64%); obliteration of the round window by otosclerosis (23%); the prosthesis lying on a residual footplate fragment (23%); the prosthesis abutting the bony margin of the oval window (18%); adhesions in the middle ear (14%); and new bone formation in the oval window (14%).ConclusionsHistopathologic examination of temporal bones from patients who in life had undergone stapedectomy provides useful information concerning causes of both residual and recurrent CHL. These data provide a basis for improving both surgical technique and prosthesis design.