Morphometric Dimensions of Male Auditory Ossicles among Nigerian Population

Abstract

 Introduction
 The auditory ossicles transfer sound vibrations in the tympanic membrane from the middle ear to the inner ear. These ossicles 
are located in the petrous part of the temporal bone and they form a chain across the tympanic cavity from the tympanic mem
brane to the oval window. 
Aim
 The present study was aimed at providing the morphometric dimensions of the male auditory ossicles among the Nigerian 
population.
 Materials and Methods
 The study was carried out on 94 malleus (R=44, L=50), 70 incus (R=34, L=36), and 27 stapes (R=10, L=17) auditory ossicles 
collected from 57 unidentified adult male cadavers from the departments of anatomy of various universities in Nigeria. The 
various parameters were taken with the help of a digital vernier caliper and weighed with Mettler Toledo weighing balance.
 Results
 This study revealed no statistically significance difference (p>0.05) between morphometric measurements of the bones of the 
right and left side except in the malleus. The mean weights (mg) of the malleus, incus and stapes were 22.04, 27.02, and 3.34, 
respectively. The mean lengths (mm) of the malleus and incus were 8.02 and 6.73, respectively and the mean length of footplates 
in stapes was 1.94 mm. The mean width of the incus was 4.12 mm and the mean width of the footplate in stapes was 2.88 mm. 
Conclusion
 The three auditory ossicles are morphometrically identical in both ears except the malleus. The precise measurements of the os
sicles have been reported in this study among the adult male Nigerian population which would be very helpful in forensic study. 
Variations were observed in the dimensions of the ossicles when compared with previous studies which may be due to racial or 
regional factors as the values from published authors are from Asian and Caucasian populations