Prussak’s Space

Prussak’s space is a small recess in the middle ear that is the typical site of origin of acquired pars flaccida cholesteatoma.
Boundaries of Prussak’s space:¹
- Lateral: pars flaccida of the tympanic membrane
- Medial: neck of the malleus
- Superior: lateral malleolar fold and the scutum
- Anterior/Posterior: lateral malleolar fold
- Inferior: lateral (short) process of the malleus
It is named after Aleksandr Fedorovich Prussak (1839-1897), a Russian otologist who described the detailed anatomy of the space in 1867.²
It is continuous with the posterior pouch of Von Troeltsch.³

Prussak's Space

Lee, Keat Jin. Essential otolaryngology: head and neck surgery. McGraw-Hill, 2012. ↩
Proctor B. Alexander Prussak. (1968) The Annals of otology, rhinology, and laryngology. 77 (2): 344-9. doi:10.1177/000348946807700219 - Pubmed ↩
Janfaza, Parviz, ed. Surgical anatomy of the head and neck, pp. 452-453. Harvard University Press, 2011. ↩

Last updated October 10, 2022