Age-related bone resorption in the normal incus: a case of maladaptive remodelling?

The changes that occur in the normal human incus with age have been investigated. Evidence for age-related changes in this ossicle, especially in the region of the long process, has been accumulating over the last 30-40 years and yet they have neither been confirmed quantitatively nor explained satisfactorily. In this study the results of a morphometric study of the long processes of a series of normal incudes are presented. These demonstrate that the lenticular and long processes undergo progressive symmetric resorption with advancing age. We consider these findings in the light of previous considerations of incudal remodelling and propose that these remodelling changes may reflect a normal adaptive response to the biomechanical milieu of the human middle ear.