Bilateral hearing loss following unilateral stapes surgery

Otosclerosis is a common cause of conductive hearing loss. It is surgically treated with stapedectomy or stapedotomy. Sensory-neural hearing loss is an uncommon but known complication of this surgery. A 25-year-old Iranian female with bilateral otosclerosis underwent right stapedotomy and developed bilateral sensorineural hearing loss a few days after the surgery, which recovered with appropriate treatment. The possible causes and their clinical courses are discussed in this study. Sensorineural hearing loss after stapedotomy has many different etiologies. Generally, the causes which are not directly related to the surgery should also be considered

Expression Levels of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors A and C in Patients with Peptic Ulcers and Gastric Cancer

PURPOSE: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is one of the most important growth factors for metastatic tumors. To clarify the role of VEGF-A and C in patients with peptic ulcer disease (PUD) or gastric cancer (GC), we evaluated the expression levels of these two molecules. We also analyzed the effect of Helicobacter pylori infection on VEGF-A and C expression levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with dyspepsia who needed diagnostic endoscopy were selected and divided into three groups: non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD), PUD, and GC, according to their endoscopic and histopathological results. Fifty-two patients with NUD, 50 with PUD, and 38 with GC were enrolled in this study. H. pylori infection was diagnosed by the rapid urease test. After RNA extraction and synthesis of cDNA, the expression levels of VEGF-A and C were determined by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The VEGF-C expression level in the PUD and GC groups was significantly higher than that in the NUD group. Moreover, the VEGF-A expression level in the PUD and GC groups was higher than in the NUD group, although the differences were not statistically significant. Significant positive correlations were also observed between the expression levels of these two molecules in the PUD and GC groups. In addition, the expression levels of these two molecules were higher in H. pylori positive patients with PUD or GC than in H. pylori negative patients of the same groups; however, these differences did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Up-regulation of VEGF-C expression during gastric mucosal inflammation may play a role in the development of peptic ulcers or GC.