The surgical treatment of clinical otosclerosis by mobilization of the stapes footplate is not a new procedure. Kessel1 as early as 1876 recognized footplate ankylosis and made surgical attempts to create a movable footplate. He was followed by Miot,2 Blake,3 Jack,4 and many others. Except for sporadic attempts, the procedure was largely discontinued about the turn of the century, apparently due to unsatisfactory and disappointing results.
When one recalls these otologists had rather crude instruments, inadequate anesthesia, improper illumination and magnification, total lack of electronic testing devices, and no chemotherapeutic or antibiotic drugs, the reasons for the failure of the procedure in those early attempts become quite apparent.
Dr. Julius Lempert5 described an approach to the middle-ear area for tympanosympathectomy that allowed exploration of the middle ear with relative ease.
Dr. Samuel Rosen6 used the basic exploratory approach of Lempert to revive the