{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T00:15:23Z","timestamp":1787616923483,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,27]],"date-time":"2021-05-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1622073600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A retrospective analysis to quantify age-related changes of the incudo-malleolar joint (IMJ) and incudo-stapedial joint (ISJ), and to analyse changes in the air-bone gap (ABG) with age, was performed. Defined histologic parameters of 153 IMJ and 106 ISJ from subjects aged from birth to 70 years were correlated to age. Additionally, audiograms of 1760 ears of 974 other subjects aged 20 to 80 years were retrospectively analysed and the ABG was correlated to age. The joint space (age group from 0 to 10 compared to 61 to 70 years) became significantly wider with age (IMJ: from a mean of 44 \u00b5m to 100 \u00b5m, p &lt; 0.001; ISJ: from a mean of 28 \u00b5m to 69 \u00b5m, p &lt; 0.009. The thickness of cartilage of the incus decreased in the first 20 years of life (IMJ, from a mean of 88 \u00b5m to 65 \u00b5m, p &lt; 0.01; ISJ: from a mean of 44 \u00b5m to 35 \u00b5m, p &lt; 0.01). The ABGs of younger ears (20\u201340 years) was significantly larger at 500 Hz compared to older ears (60\u201380 years) by 2\u20134 dB, while it was significantly smaller by 3\u20135 dB at 4000 Hz (p &lt; 0.0017). Interindividual variations in all age groups were large for both analyses. The increased joint spaces could potentially reduce the stiffness in the joints and explain the increase in ABG at 4000 Hz and the drop at 500 Hz. While the average change is small and of minimal clinical relevance, a larger increase of ABG with age is seen in some subjects.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm10112341","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,27]],"date-time":"2021-05-27T04:30:46Z","timestamp":1622089846000},"page":"2341","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Conductive Hearing Loss with Age\u2014A Histologic and Audiometric Evaluation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6929-5711","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ivo","family":"Dobrev","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"Dillinger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Letizia","family":"Meier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dorothe","family":"Veraguth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3937-1266","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Flurin","family":"Pfiffner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rudolf","family":"Probst","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2425-9792","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christof","family":"R\u00f6\u00f6sli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Zelaya, C.E., Lucas, J.W., and Hoffman, H.J. 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