Dear Editors,
We want to thank Zhengcai Lou for his interest in our study on spontaneous closure of traumatic tympanic membrane perforations, and for his clarification of the important results from his detailed studies on the subject.
As far as we can see, we have quoted correctly the conclusion of Dr Lou regarding the influence of epithelial migration.Reference Lou1 With regard to the importance of inverted and everted edges, it is correct that the quotation of Dr Lou's paper could be misleading and should not have been used in that context. Our intention of referencing another study by Lou et al.Reference Lou, Tang and Yang2 in this context was to draw attention to his discussion on his own results versus the opinion of other authors, with quotation of the two papers.
Anyway, we regard the studies from Dr Lou as some of the most important and advanced research in the field.
