title: Correlation Between Tympanosclerosis and Helicobacter pylori.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tympanosclerosis is a condition caused by calcification of tissues in the middle ear mucosa that sometimes results hearing loss. Helicobacter pylori is one of the pathological and etiologic factors in the development of tympanosclerosis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to show the role of H. pylori in the different aspects of chronic suppurative otitis media using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique.
  
  
  METHODS
  This case-control and cross-sectional study was performed on all patients with chronic otitis media, candidates for surgical operations, in 2013. They were allocated into the case group with tympanosclerosis and the control group without tympanosclerosis. During the surgical operation, biopsy was done from middle ear and the samples were studied to see if they contained H. pylori using the PCR method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From a total of 19 patients with tympanosclerosis , 16 cases (84.2%) were H. pylori positive, while in the control group 15 (45.4%) cases out of the 37 cases were H. pylori positive, which showed a significant difference (P = 0.002). Age and gender of the patients, ear dryness and perforation size were not correlated with the presence or absence of H. pylori.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a significant correlation between tympanosclerosis and H. pylori (P = 0.002). This correlation can single out H. pylori as a pathological factor in the development of tympanosclerosis; however, further studies are needed to prove this correlation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Hearing and Speech Research Centre, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Nader
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saki
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Hearing and Speech Research Centre, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jahani
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Health Research Institute, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Samarbaf
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Hearing and Speech Research Centre, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Gholam Abbas
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Kaydani
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Health Research Institute, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Soheila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nikakhlagh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Health Research Institute, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Malek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kenani
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Health Research Institute, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Sasan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mogehi
keywords: Helicobacter Pylori; Myringosclerosis; Otitis Media; Polymerase Chain Reaction