Histological and Histopathological Study of Incus.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic otits media is long standing infection of middle ear cleft which commonly involves bone erosion. Bone destruction seen in unsafe chronic otitis media mainly involves the ossicles, incus being frequently involved ossicle. So, an investigation of the histopathological changes in incus was carried out to report the various histopathological changes occurring in chronic otitis media.

AIM: Aim of the study is to report the structural changes occuring in incus bone in chronic otitis media.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten normal incuses and ten pathological incuses which were removed during the surgery for chronic otitis media (both with and without cholesteotoma) were studied histologically, after staining with haematoxylin and eosin.

RESULTS: Normal incus showed compact bone pattern of concentric rings, like that of any long bone of body. Pathological incuses of chronic otitis media (both with and without cholestoetoma) showed similar changes, i.e., stratified squamous epithelium, with distorted concentric rings and increased osseous spaces.

CONCLUSION: The study was undertaken, so that the knowledge to histological changes may help the clinicians to take more rational decisions regarding their diagnosis and therapeutic interventions to prevent the changes occurring in the bone in chronic otitis media.