Otosclerosis and pregnancy: a study of the influence of pregnancy on the hearing threshold before and after stapedectomy.

In a retrospective study of 144 fertile women subjected to operation for otosclerosis by the method of Shea or House, we found a fall in the hearing threshold in the operated ear which seemed to be a little greater in the patients who became pregnant after the operation than in those who did not. However, the hearing loss was significantly greater in the non-operated ear in the patients who became pregnant after the operation than in those who did not.