Aim: The study objective was to compare intraoperative and early postoperative outcomes among patients who underwent hysterectomy via transvaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (and singleport lararoscopy for presumed benign gynecologic disorders). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 40 patients who underwent single-port laparoscopic hysterectomy and 20 patients who underwent hysterectomy via natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery. Patients' age, body mass index, history of previous delivery and surgery, total operation time (from skin incision to closure), intraoperative and postoperative complications conversion to another surgical procedure, drop of hemoglobin level, postoperative pain at 1 and 18 h, average hospital stay, and clinical outcomes were analyzed. Results: Hysterectomy via transvaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery was superior to single-port hysterectomy concerning the length of hospitalization (p < 0.001) and visual analog scale at 1 h (p = 0.024) and 18 h (p < 0.001). In transvaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic group, postoperative complications were lower than single-port laparoscopy group (p = 0.023). In transvaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopy, group conversion to a standard vaginal hysterectomy occurred in two cases (10%). Four patients in the single-port laparoscopic hysterectomy group had umbilical herniation, three had portsite infections, and two patients had vaginal cuff hematoma. These patients required rehospitalization. Conclusions: Despite hysterectomy via transvaginal natural orifice transluminal surgery has not yet found its place in routine practice in gynecology departments, it could be a prominent alternative approach to other minimally invasive surgical procedures in selected patients with many advantages including lesser pain and lower complication rates compared with single-port laparoscopic hysterectomy.

Objective: Congenital infections can cause newborn hearing loss. Although vertical transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection is theoretically possible, this has not been proven yet. To our knowledge, there is no previous report on whether COVID-19 infection during pregnancy can cause congenital hearing loss. This paper aimed to find an answer to this question. Method: This retrospective, single-center study was performed between April 2020 and May 2021 at a tertiary care referral center in Turkey. A total of 422 pregnant women who had coronavirus infection during pregnancy were followed and 203 of them gave birth in our institution. Results of hearing screening tests of 199 newborns were assessed retrospectively. Results: Of patients included in the study, 23 (11.6%) had the disease in the first trimester, 62 (31.2%) in the second trimester, and 114 (57.3%) in the third trimester. In the first hearing test performed on newborns, unilateral hearing loss was observed in 21 babies (10.5%). Hearing tests of these newborns were found to be normal in the second test performed 15 days later. Conclusion: Considering the incidence of congenital hearing loss, the absence of hearing loss in our newborn population does not confirm the argument that coronavirus infection does not cause congenital hearing loss. This issue should be evaluated with larger patient series. In addition, it should be kept in mind that hearing loss can occur at later ages as well.

In December 2019, the first clinical case was presented as viral pneumonia from Wuhan, the capital city of China's Hubei Province. 1 Two months later, on 12 February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) entitled the novel virus as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), responsible for severe pneumonia and multiple symptoms such as diarrhoea, myalgia, headache, anosmia and ageusia. 2 On 11 March, approximately 118 000 cases in 114countries and 4291 COVID-19-related deaths worldwide were reported, and WHO declared the outbreak to be a pandemic. 3 In Turkey, on 9 March 2020, a 44-year-old-man was hospitalised with fever and cough after traveling abroad. He became Turkey's first official case, which was announced on 11 March, simultaneously as WHO's pandemic declaration. 4 The virus spread rate in Turkey was about the same as the World's, and the number of cases reached 476 601 within 3 months.Besides the prevention methods were considered with the onset of the pandemic, there were concerns among the surgeons about the effects of surgery on COVID-19. The findings of some studies suggested that SARS-CoV-2 increases circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. 5,6 Consequently, higher levels of cytokines are correlated with the severity of the