Experience with a new pure gold piston in stapedotomy for cases of otosclerosis.

This study reports the evaluation of the hearing results after 62 implantations of a pure gold (99.9%) piston in cases of otosclerosis. A retrospective analysis of the pre- and postsurgery audiological results of these patients was carried out by microcomputer. This study shows that the use of a pure gold piston ((K-piston) with a diameter of 0.4 mm gives good results in cases of stapedotomy for otosclerosis. The hearing results show a closure of the pure-tone average (PTA) air-bone gap to within 10 dB was 70.9% (44/62) and to within 20 dB in 95.1% (59/62). A residual airbone-gap of > 20 dB was seen in three cases (4.8%). A postoperative overclosure of bone conduction thresholds was discovered for all frequencies measured. Sensorineural hearing loss (> 10%) did not occur and there was no decline in the speech discrimination. The future for this new generation of stapes pistons seems to be promising.