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Although lightning injuries are quite common, lightning-induced damage to the middle or inner ear and to the vestibular nerve has been reported in only a very few cases. Two case reports are presented: a 22-year-old woman and a 26-year-old man who experienced lightning injuries to several body parts including the ear. Pathophysiology, diagnostic criteria and treatment are discussed.

Amyloidosis is a term that describes a heterogeneous group of disorders in which various tissues contain the characteristic insoluble fibrillar protein known as amyloid. A number of different forms of presentation have been described and include senile, familial or hereditary, systemic, localized, secondary and primary forms. We now report our management of a 79-year old woman who suffered from primary A-lambda-light chain amyloidosis. Amyloid changes first presented in the tissues of the tongue and floor of mouth and were seen clinically as a macroglossia. Further investigation led to a primary diagnosis of multiple myeloma IIa, as categorized by Durie and Salmon. Several cases have been reported to date describing secondary development of macroglossia due to long-term known and treated multiple myeloma. However, there has been only one report of macroglossia as a primary finding leading to the diagnosis of multiple myeloma.