:Stapes
{{Short description|Bone of the middle ear}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox bone
| Name = Stapes
| Latin = stapes
| Image = Stapes bone svg hariadhi.svg
| Caption = Frontal view of stapes (A), and view from below (B).
| Precursor = Second branchial arch
| PartOf = Middle ear
| Pronunciation = {{IPAc-en|'|s|t|ei|p|i:|z}}
| System = Auditory system
| Articulations = Incudostapedial joint
}}
{{Ear series|expanded=Middle}}
The stapes or stirrup is a bone in the middle ear of humans and other tetrapods which is involved in the conduction of sound vibrations to the inner ear. This bone is connected to the oval window by its annular ligament, which allows the footplate (or base) to transmit sound energy through the oval window into the inner ear. The stapes is the smallest and lightest bone in the human body, and is so-called because of its resemblance to a stirrup ({{langx|la|Stapes}}).
Structure
{{See also|Ossicles}}
File:Stapes human ear.jpg coin.]]
The stapes is the third bone of the three ossicles in the middle ear and the smallest in the human body. It measures roughly {{nowrap|2 to 3 mm}}, greater along the head-base span.{{cite journal |last1=Àwengen |first1=D. F. |last2=Nishihara |first2=S. |last3=Kurokawa |first3=H. |last4=Goode |first4=R. L. |title=Measurements of the stapes superstructure |journal=The Annals of Otology, Rhinology, and Laryngology |date=April 1995 |volume=104 |issue=4 Pt 1 |pages=311–6 |pmid=7717624 |doi=10.1177/000348949510400411|s2cid=43418740 }} It rests on the oval window, to which it is connected by an annular ligament and articulates with the incus, or anvil through the incudostapedial joint. They are connected by anterior and posterior limbs ({{langx|la|crura}}).{{cite book |last=Drake |first=Richard L. |title=Gray's Anatomy for Students |year=2005 |publisher=Elsevier/Churchill Livingstone |location=Philadelphia |isbn=978-0-8089-2306-0 |author2=Vogl, Wayne |author3=Tibbitts, Adam W. M. Mitchell |others=Illustrations by Richard Tibbitts and Paul Richardson}}{{rp|862}}
=Development=
The stapes develops from the second pharyngeal arch during the sixth to eighth week of embryological life. The central cavity of the stapes, the obturator foramen, is due to the presence embryologically of the stapedial artery, which usually regresses in humans during normal development.{{cite journal |last=Chapman |first=S. C.|title=Can you hear me now? Understanding vertebrate middle ear development |journal=Frontiers in Bioscience |date=January 1, 2011 |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=1675–92 |pmid=21196256 |doi=10.2741/3813 |pmc=3065862}}{{cite journal |last=Rodriguez-Vazquez |first=J. F. |title=Development of the stapes and associated structures in human embryos |journal=Journal of Anatomy |date=August 2005 |volume=207 |issue=2 |pages=165–173 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7580.2005.00441.x |pmid=16050903 |pmc=1571512}}
=Animals=
{{See also|Evolution of mammalian auditory ossicles}}
The stapes is one of three ossicles in mammals. In non-mammalian tetrapods, the bone homologous to the stapes is usually called the columella; however, in reptiles, either term may be used. In fish, the homologous bone is called the hyomandibular, and is part of the gill arch supporting either the spiracle or the jaw, depending on the species. The equivalent term in amphibians is the {{lang|la|pars media plectra}}.{{cite book
|last1= Romer |first1 =Alfred Sherwood |last2 = Parsons |first2 = Thomas S
|publisher = Holt-Saunders International |year = 1977 |location = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|title=The Vertebrate Body
|isbn= 978-0-03-910284-5
}}{{rp|481–482}}
=Variation=
The stapes appears to be relatively constant in size in different ethnic groups.{{cite journal |last1=Arensburg |first1=B. |last2=Harell |first2=M. |last3=Nathan |first3=H. |title=The human middle ear ossicles: Morphometry, and taxonomic implications |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |date=February 1981 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=199–205 |doi=10.1016/S0047-2484(81)80018-8|bibcode=1981JHumE..10..199A }} In 0.01–0.02% of people, the stapedial artery does not regress, and persists in the central foramen.{{cite journal |last1=Mutlu |first1=C. |last2=da Costa |first2=S. S. |author3=Paparella, MM |author4=Schachern, Pennsylvania |title=Clinical-histopathological correlations of pitfalls in middle ear surgery. |journal=European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology |year=1998 |volume=255 |issue=4 |pages=189–194 |pmid=9592676 |doi=10.1007/s004050050041|s2cid=25682582 }} In this case, a pulsatile sound may be heard in the affected ear, or there may be no symptoms at all.{{cite journal |last1=Silbergleit |first1=R. |last2=Quint |first2=D. J. |last3=Mehta |first3=B. A. |last4=Patel |first4=S. C. |last5=Metes |first5=J. J. |last6=Noujaim |first6=S. E. |title=The persistent stapedial artery |journal=American Journal of Neuroradiology|date=Mar 2000 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=572–577 |pmid=10730654|pmc=8174972 }} Rarely, the stapes may be completely absent.{{cite journal |last1=Reiber |first1=M. |last2=Schwaber |first2=M. |title=Congenital absence of stapes and facial nerve dehiscence |journal=Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery |date=February 1997 |volume=116 |issue=2 |pages=278 |doi=10.1016/S0194-5998(97)70343-7 |pmid=9051082|s2cid=33351053 }}{{rp|262}}
Function
{{Main|Hearing}}
Situated between the incus and the inner ear, the stapes transmits sound vibrations from the incus to the oval window, a membrane-covered opening to the inner ear. The stapes is also stabilized by the stapedius muscle, which is innervated by the facial nerve.{{rp|861–863}}
Clinical relevance
Otosclerosis is a congenital or spontaneous-onset disease characterized by abnormal bone remodeling in the inner ear. Often this causes the stapes to adhere to the oval window, which impedes its ability to conduct sound, and is a cause of conductive hearing loss. Clinical otosclerosis is found in about 1% of people, although it is more common in forms that do not cause noticeable hearing loss. Otosclerosis is more likely in young age groups, and females.{{cite journal|last1=Menger|first1=D. J.|last2=Tange |first2=R. A. |title=The aetiology of otosclerosis: a review of the literature|journal=Clinical Otolaryngology and Allied Sciences|date=April 2003|volume=28|issue=2|pages=112–120|doi=10.1046/j.1365-2273.2003.00675.x|pmid=12680829|doi-access=free}} Two common treatments are stapedectomy, the surgical removal of the stapes and replacement with an artificial prosthesis, and stapedotomy, the creation of a small hole in the base of the stapes followed by the insertion of an artificial prosthesis into that hole.{{cite book|last1=Hall|first1=John E. |first2=Arthur C. |last2=Guyton |title=Textbook of medical physiology|year=2005|publisher=W. B. Saunders|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7216-0240-0|edition=11th}} {{rp|661}} Surgery may be complicated by a persistent stapedial artery, fibrosis-related damage to the base of the bone, or obliterative otosclerosis, resulting in obliteration of the base.{{cite book|title=Tympanoplasty, Mastoidectomy, and Stapes Surgery|year=2008|publisher=Georg Thieme Verlag|isbn=978-1-282-86537-2}} {{rp|254–262}}
History
File:Ingrassia stapes noback.jpg (Labeled M, bottom right).]]
The stapes is commonly described as having been discovered by the professor Giovanni Filippo Ingrassia in 1546 at the University of Naples,{{cite journal|last1=Dispenza|first1=F.|last2=Cappello |first2=F. |last3=Kulamarva |first3=G. |last4=De Stefano |first4=A. |title=The discovery of stapes|journal=Acta Otorhinolaryngologica Italica |date=October 2013|volume=33|issue=5|pages=357–359|pmid=24227905 |pmc=3825043}} although this remains the nature of some controversy, as Ingrassia's description was published posthumously in his 1603 anatomical commentary {{lang|la|In Galeni librum de ossibus doctissima et expectatissima commentaria}}. Spanish anatomist Pedro Jimeno is first to have been credited with a published description, in {{lang|la|Dialogus de re medica}} (1549).{{cite journal|last=Mudry|first=Albert|title=Disputes Surrounding the Discovery of the Stapes in the Mid 16th Century|journal=Otology & Neurotology|date=April 2013|volume=34|issue=3|pages=588–592|doi=10.1097/MAO.0b013e31827d8abc|pmid=23370557|s2cid=30466939 }} The bone is so-named because of its resemblance to a stirrup ({{langx|la|stapes}}), an example of a late Latin word, probably created in mediaeval times from "to stand" ({{langx|la|stapia}}), as stirrups did not exist in the early Latin-speaking world.{{cite web|last=Harper|first=Douglas|title=Stapes (n.)|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=stapes|work=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=27 December 2013}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- {{cite web
| url = http://research.meei.harvard.edu/otopathology/3dmodels/
| title = 3-D Virtual Models of the Human Temporal Bone and Related Structures
| publisher = Eaton Peabody Laboratory of Auditory Physiology
| access-date = September 8, 2016
| archive-date = April 13, 2016
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160413034745/http://research.meei.harvard.edu/Otopathology/3dmodels/
| url-status = dead
}}
{{Anatomy-terms}}
{{Auditory system}}
{{HumanBones}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Good article}}