Diagnosis and treatment of cochlear otosclerosis.

Moderator Dr. George E. Shambaugh, Jr.: "Otosclerosis" is a misnomer, and I think we must keep in mind that it is the exact opposite. It is a loss of density of the bone of the labyrinthine capsule rather than a sclerosis, and the better name would be the one proposed by Siebenmann, which somehow never took, called otospongiosis, or a localized otoporosis would be another name for it, but certainly not otosclerosis, because it is not a sclerosis. It is a focus of bone less dense than the normal capsule which it replaces. It is true that in certain stages of this lesion the bone may become approximately as dense as the capsule which it replaced, but in its active stage it is far less dense. So let us keep this in mind as we discuss this very common disease. I say "common" because Guild has shown that one in