Prussak's space
recess of the middle ear
In human anatomy, Prussak's space is the small middle ear recess, bordered laterally by the flaccid part of Shrapnell's membrane, superiorly by the scutum (a sharp bony spur that is formed by the superior wall of the external auditory canal) and lateral malleal ligament, inferiorly by the lateral process of the malleus, and medially by the neck of the malleus. From the neck of the malleus, the anterior malleolar fold and the anterior ligament arise, demarcating Prussak's space anteriorly. Ventilation of Prussak's space is only possible posteriorly above the posterior malleus fold.
It communicates with the posterior pouch of von Troltsch.
It is named after the Russian otologist Alexander Prussak (1839–1897).
Boundaries
Medially: neck of malleus and lateral malleolar ligament
Laterally: pars flaccida
Inferiorly: lateral process of malleus
Superiorly: lateral malleolar fold and scutum
"Anteriorly:" anterior malleolar ligament
Clinical significance
Prussak's space is important because it is a site for pars flaccida acquired cholesteatoma formation. A cholesteatoma forms when there is a deep retraction pocket in the tympanic membrane. The lining of the tympanic membrane, which is skin, is shed, but if the membrane is retracted it gets trapped. The debris collects and enlarges and ultimately forms a cholesteatoma. This cholesteatoma, in turn, can erode the middle ear ossicles, facial nerve, inner ear and even involve the brain.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7253155. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1839 and 1897.
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This entry incorporates text from “Prussak's space” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.