Surgery and histopathology of the stapes in osteogenesis imperfecta tarda.

Fourteen stapedectomies were performed on ten patients with osteogenesis imperfecta tarda. Clinically, the footplates were softer and more tenuously fixed than in otosclerosis and floating footplates seemed more common. Stapes and stapes fragments from all 14 operations were examined microscopically. The histopathology of osteogenesis imperfecta was contrasted to that of otosclerosis. We believe that the greater degree of structural disorganization and greater area occupied by resorption spaces clearly distinguish the new bone formed in osteogenesis imperfecta from otosclerosis.