Clinical otosclerosis and auditory exostoses in ancient Europeans (investigation of Lithuanian paleoosteological samples).

The purpose of this investigation was to establish the incidence of clinical otosclerosis and auditory exostoses in Lithuanian paleopopulations. The total sample consists of 4080 skulls, dating from the Neolithic to the C17th-C18th A.D., investigated visually, under magnification and radiologically. Eight cases of clinical otosclerosis and 22 of auditory exostoses were identified. The general epidemiology of otosclerosis (0.19 +/- 0.08 per cent) was established to be similar to contemporary populations. This suggests that there are no new aetiological factors attributable to our modern society. Clear diminution of the incidence of auditory exostoses from the 1st to the 2nd millenium A.D. (3.46 +/- 0.76 per cent, against 0.06 +/- 0.04 per cent, p < 0.001) and definite sexual differences (males: 1.21 +/- 0.28 per cent; females: 0.17 +/- 0.10 per cent, p < 0.001) were also noted. In general, auditory exostoses were found much more frequently than in recent populations.