Two Cases of Misdiagnosed Congenital Stapes Fixation

Abstract

Congenital stapes fixation showing normal finding of external auditory canal and tympanic membrane causes non-progressive conductive hearing loss in the range of 40 to 60 dB since childhood. It is a rare disease, but most commonly found among the isolated ossicular anomalies. Patients with this disease are very suitable candidates for stapes surgery, and successful hearing improvement can be expected by an appropriate surgical procedure. We report 2 cases of congenital stapes fixation which had been operated improperly. One case showed interposed homologous ossicle between the stapes head and the incus, and the other case showed transposed incus between the malleus handle and the stapes head along with the anterior crus fracture. They showed hearing improvements of more than 30 dB after stapedotomy with placement of the Fisch type stapes prosthesis. We are reporting two cases of misdiagnosed congenital stapes fixation with a discussion.