Measurement of Korean Ossicles

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There are several factors affecting the result of the ossiculoplasty such as the severity of the pathology, the operating technique and the reconstruction material, etc. So far, most of the ossicular materials that have been developed were not perfect and some of the commercialized materials are not suitable for Koreans. We investigated the dimensions of the Korean ossicles and the space between the handle of the malleus and the plane of the stapes in order to standardize the artificial ossicles to fit Koreans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen cadaveric Korean temporal bones which did not have any pathology of tympanic membrane and ossicles were used for this study. We dissected the temporal bones and measured the related dimensions of ossicles under a surgical microscope. RESULTS: The dimensions of the part of ossicles are as follows: (1) length (mm),1) malleus head 3.46+/-0.57, neck 0.91+/-0.17, handle 4.40+/-0.29: 2) incus short process 2.42+/-0.35, long process 3.31+/-0.57: 3) stapes head and neck 0.79+/-0.19, height of crura 2.24+/-0.34: (2) diameter (long, short) (mm), stapes head 0.95+/-0.20, 0.73+/-0.11, footplate 2.91+/-0.20, 1.38+/-0.16. The distance between the stapes head and the malleus handle was 3+/-0.3 mm, and between the stapes footplate and the malleus handle 5.1+/-0.4 mm. The angle between a line from the malleus handle to the head of stapes and a perpendicular line of stapes footplate passing the center of stapes head was 29+/-7 degree. The angle between a line from the malleus handle to the stapes footplate and a perpendicular line of stapes footplate passing the center of stapes head was 17+/-5 degree. CONCLUSION: We collected normal data of dimensions of the Korean ossicles from cadaveric temporal bones. The differences in the dimensions between ossicles of the Korean and the non-Koreans were observed. The observed data from this study should be useful in the development of the artificial ossicular materials suitable for the Koreans.