Association between morphological features in the cochlear promontory and mastoid Process

Implications for Identifying middle ear diseases in human skeletal remains

Bibliographic Data

ID13097077
AuthorsMaia Casna (0000-0002-4209-7889, Leiden University, corresponding author), Joost J H Roelofs (Leiden University Medical Center), Rachel Schats (0000-0003-1913-3930, Leiden University), Berit M Verbist (0000-0002-1010-2583, Leiden University Medical Center), Tjasse D Bruintjes (0000-0001-5955-8453, Leiden University Medical Center)
Year2024
Volume56
Pages104538-104538
Publication date2024-04-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Archaeological Science Reports (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2352-409X • E-ISSN: 2352-4103
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104538
OpenAlexW4394904113
LanguageEN
References cited32

Infectious Middle Ear Disease (IMED) is a group of infections that frequently afflict individuals across all age groups worldwide. Although in today’s clinical practice IMED is efficiently managed, in the past it probably caused severe complications (e.g., hearing loss, balance problems, and facial nerve paralysis), heavily impacting the everyday life of many people. However, despite the valuable insights that studying ear infections in the past can bring, bioarcheology presently lacks a standardized methodology to assess their prevalence in skeletal populations. This can lead to several issues, including incomparability of results, difficulties in replications, and methodological biases. Recently, straightforward and accessible criteria for the observation of the cochlear promontory were presented to successfully assess IMED on skeletal remains. Yet, as otologists rarely examine the impact of ear infections on the bony structures of the middle ear, the results were not supported clinically, and could therefore not be validated. To fill this gap, we propose a study in which computed tomography (CT) of the mastoid process was utilized on the skulls of 50 individuals to verify the results obtained through gross observation of the cochlear promontory. Statistical analysis revealed significant correlation between hypopneumatization (indicative of childhood IMED) and bony changes of the promontory at the level of the individual. This suggests a potential correlation that warrants further investigation to determine whether the observation of the cochlear promontory should be used as a method for IMED assessment. Overall, our study contributes to the study of IMED in past populations, and underscores the importance of clear, standardized scoring criteria in paleopathology

Audiology · Cartography · Ear disease · Geography · Hearing loss · Middle ear · Promontory · Ear Surgery and Otitis Media · Hearing Loss and Rehabilitation · Hearing, Cochlea, Tinnitus, Genetics · Medicine · Anatomy

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