title: Comparison of Fluoroplastic Causse Loop Piston and Titanium Soft-Clip in Stapedotomy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Different types of prosthesis are available for stapes replacement. Because there has been no published report on the efficacy of the titanium soft-clip vs the fluoroplastic Causse loop Teflon piston, we compared short-term hearing results of both types of prosthesis in patients who underwent stapedotomy due to otosclerosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 57 ears were included in the soft-clip group and 63 ears were included in the Teflon-piston group. Pre-operative and post-operative air conduction, bone conduction, air-bone gaps, speech discrimination score, and speech reception thresholds were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Post-operative speech reception threshold gains did not differ significantly between the two groups (P=0.919). However, better post-operative air-bone gap improvement at low frequencies was observed in the Teflon-piston group over the short-term follow-up (at frequencies of 0.25 and 0.50 kHz; P=0.007 and P=0.001, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Similar post-operative hearing results were observed in the two groups in the short-term.
authors.affiliation: Otolaryngology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Faramarzi
authors.affiliation: Otolaryngology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Nafiseh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gilanifar
authors.affiliation: Otolaryngology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Sareh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roosta
keywords: Fluoroplastic (Teflon) Causse loop piston; Otosclerosis; Stapedotomy; Titanium soft-clip