What is Cochlear Otosclerosis?
Otosclerosis begins in the middle ear, ultimately fixating a small bone in the ear called the stapes (stirrup), one of three connected bones behind the ear drum that delivers sound waves to the cochlea through vibration. The cochlea is a fluid filled organ that translates sound waves into electrical impulses before forwarding them on to the brain for processing. The otosclerosis process usually causes a conductive hearing loss; however if untreated, it can invade the cochlea causing Cochlear Otosclerosis. Dr. George Cire, the Clinical Manager for Bone Anchored Solutions at Cochlear Americas, explains in a Ask-the-Expert question on www.AudiologyOnline.com that, [This condition] will begin and usually is contained in the basal turn of the cochleaAs the disease invades the otic capsule a concomitant sensorineural [hearing] loss will appear. Break it down, the condition is usually confined to the middle ear, however can spread into the cochlea causing a more serious and permanent nerve he
