Deniz B, et al. - Researchers investigated the factors that affect postoperative hearing results of patients with otosclerosis. They reviewed retrospectively collected data of 245 patients with clinical otosclerosis who underwent stapes surgery at their center from January 2009 to December 2018. According to the postoperative functional outcome, the patients were grouped into two: Group 1 consisted of patients with a postoperative air-bone gap (ABG) of ≤ 10 dB and Group 2 comprised those with a postoperative ABG of > 10 dB. The prognosis regarding the postoperative hearing outcome in patients with otosclerosis was poor in correlation with the preoperative air conduction threshold and large ABG. Patients with a preoperative small ABG and those with a preoperative ABG of < 34.5 dB had similar functional outcomes. Findings support considering a preoperative ABG cut-off value of < 34.5 dB as a valuable parameter for predicting surgical success in otosclerosis in clinical practice.