Evidence of Increased Average Age of Patients with Otosclerosis

Abstract

Otosclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the human temporal bone which was assumed to affect up to 10% of the Caucasians. Histologic otosclerosis has an incidence of 3.4%. It is considered as a major cause of hearing loss in Western countries while a low incidence is observed among Africans. Many hypotheses about its origin had been formulated in the past. Otosclerosis genes (OTSC1-5) and collagen 1 genes are mutated in some familial cases of otosclerosis. On this genetic background, a common environmental factor such as a measles virus infection might be the triggering factor. Studies in the past indicated a distribution of otosclerosis among men and women of 1:1.4. Our study was designed to analyze the age of patients with otosclerosis at the time of surgery in the eighties and the nineties of the last century. Patients suffering from clinical otosclerosis who underwent stapedectomy between 1978 and 1999 with complete clinical data available (n = 1,351) were included in the study. Age and gender distribution, the age difference between men and women and the influence of gender and the year of recruitment were evaluated. Statistical analyses demonstrated an increase in the average age of patients with clinical otosclerosis from the eighties to the nineties (p = 0.012). The gender distribution showed no statistically significant variation (p = 0.398). These data might reflect an improved health consciousness among the elder population or could be the result of increased health awareness in the seventies and eighties. Finally, in the early seventies, measles virus vaccination was introduced in Germany and the shift of age could be the result of the measles virus immunization campaign.

Etiopathogenesis of otosclerosis

“…However, there have been conflicting results as in the study by Grayeli et al [49], which could not detect measles virus RNA in the otosclerotic bone. According to the study of Arnold et al [50] and Niedermeyer et al [51,52], anti-measles vaccination seems to be correlated with decreasing numbers of stapes surgery as well as increasing age of patients at the time of surgery. In conclusion, a great body of evidence suggests that otosclerosis is an inflammatory disease associated with persistent measles virus infection.…”

Pedigree Analysis and Audiological Investigations of Otosclerosis: An Extended Family Based Study

“…Whether it is a common phenomenon in otosclerosis requires a detailed study in a larger cohort of familial cases. It is worthwhile to mention that a retrospective study reported that the onset of otosclerosis may be delayed due to vaccination against measles, use of low-dose contraception drugs, and improved healthcare [ 16 ].…”

Conservative Otosclerosis Treatment With Sodium Fluoride and Other Modern Formulations: A Systematic Review

“…Otosclerosis is a multifactorial disease, which progressively leads to the development of hearing loss and for which several theories have been proposed regarding its pathogenesis. Although it has been the focus of many studies in recent decades, the factors contributing to the onset and progression of the disease are not fully clear, and the main ones that have been associated are as follows: (a) genetic factors, (b) viral infections, (c) autoimmune mechanisms, (d) cytokines, and (e) hormonal factors [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”