Inner ear damage in TORP-operated ears: experimental study on danger from environmental air pressure changes.
In some cases of sudden inner ear hearing loss in ears with a total ossicular replacement prosthesis, the prosthesis has been found to be penetrating the footplate. Some authors have assumed an external pressure increase for this event. In this study I tried to estimate experimentally the pressure needed for perforating a normal footplate in a temporal bone model. From the data I concluded that "cracking" the footplate can hardly be due to 1 major event of increased pressure. On the other hand, different mechanisms making the footplate a "weak spot" must be discussed and further investigated. In those cases, secondary to thinned or even perforated footplates, environmental pressure changes may be dangerous.
Pau
H W
HW
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical School, University of Rostock, Germany.
D000399:Air Pressure; D001469:Barotrauma; D006801:Humans; D009998:Ossicular Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D013701:Temporal Bone / Q000293:injuries*