ObjectivesTympanic membrane perforations are common, but there have been few studies of the factors determining the extent of the resulting conductive hearing loss. The aims of this study were to determine whether the size of tympanic membrane perforation, pneumatization of middle ear & mastoid cavity, and location of perforation were correlated with air-bone gap (ABG) of patients.MethodsForty-two patients who underwent tympanoplasty type I or myringoplasty were included and preoperative audiometry were analyzed. Digital image processing was applied in computed tomography for the estimation of middle ear & mastoid pneumatization volume and tympanic membrane photograph for the evaluation of perforation size and location.ResultsPreoperative mean ABG increased with perforation size (P=0.018), and correlated inversely with the middle ear & mastoid volume (P=0.005). However, perforations in anterior versus posterior locations showed no significant differences in mean ABG (P=0.924).ConclusionThe degree of conductive hearing loss resulting from a tympanic membrane perforation would be expected with the size of perforation and pneumatization of middle ear and mastoid.

Background We evaluated the outcome of esophageal reconstructions using tissue‐engineered scaffolds. Method Partial esophageal defects were reconstructed with the following scaffolds; animals were grouped (n = 7 per group) as follows: (a) normal rats; (b) rats implanted with three‐dimensional printing (3DP) polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds; (c) with human adipose‐derived mesenchymal stem cell (ADSC)‐seeded 3DP PCL scaffolds; (d) with polyurethane (PU)‐nanofiber(Nf) scaffolds; and (e) with ADSC‐seeded PU‐Nf scaffolds. Results The esophageal defects were successfully repaired; however, muscle regeneration was greater in the 3DP PCL + ADSC groups than in the PU‐Nf + ADSC groups (P < .001). Regeneration of the epithelium was greater in PU‐Nf and PU‐Nf + ADSC groups than in the 3DP PCL and 3DP PCL + ADSC groups (P < .001). Conclusion A tendency for more re‐epithelization was observed with the PU‐Nf scaffolds, while more muscle regeneration was achieved with the 3DP PCL scaffolds.

Results implicate that bSIM cVEMP not only saves time, but it also has an advantage of a more reliable test-retest outcome.

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