The impact of stapes surgery on osteogenesis imperfecta: a retrospective comparison of operative outcomes with those for patients with otosclerosis

Abstract

Background While stapes surgery has long been employed as a means of improving hearing in patients with otosclerosis, it remains controversial as to whether such surgical intervention is of value in patients with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). Aims This study was therefore designed to determine whether stapes surgery could still be reliably performed in OI patients as it is in otosclerosis patients. Materials and methods Seventeen OI patients and 18 matched otosclerosis patients were included. In both of these groups, 22 ears underwent primary stapes surgery. Audiometric follow-up data for patients in these two treatment groups were available for between 2 weeks and 25 years post-surgery. Results We detected significant improvements in both the short- and long-term mean air conduction threshold and reduced air-bone gap (ABG) in both treatment groups as measured via postoperative follow-up audiometry. There was no difference between the OI and otosclerosis patient groups with respect to short- and long-term postoperative audiometric. Conclusions and significance: The majority of patients with both OI and otosclerosis that underwent stapes surgery achieved beneficial gains in hearing function. We did not observe any differences in short- or long-term post-operative hearing gains or ABG reductions between the two groups.