Retrospective audiological analysis of bone conduction versus round window vibratory stimulation in patients with mixed hearing loss.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To compare audiological outcomes in mild-to-moderate mixed hearing loss patients treated with a bone-anchored hearing aid or an active middle-ear implant. Analysis aimed to refine criteria used in preoperative selection of implant type.

DESIGN:

Retrospective comparative analysis of audiological data. Follow-up time ranged between 0.55 and 8.8 years.

STUDY SAMPLE:

For detailed comparative analysis, 12 patients (six in each group) with comparable bone conduction thresholds and similar clinical characteristics were selected. A larger cohort of 48 patient files were used to evaluate overall audiological indication criteria (24 per group).

RESULTS:

In free-field tone audiometry, Baha patients showed mean aided thresholds between 40-48 dB, whereas hearing thresholds for VSB patients were 25-43 dB. Baha and VSB users had mean WRS of 56% and 82%, respectively, at 65 dB. Better speech understanding in noise was seen with the VSB.

CONCLUSION:

Analysis of the main cohort (n = 48) showed that treatment with round window vibroplasty leads to better hearing performance than treatment with a bone-anchored hearing device, if the bone conduction pure-tone average (0.5 to 4 kHz) is poorer than 35 dB HL. Audiological analysis in the smaller comparative analysis showed similar findings.

• Authors: Hamidreza Mojallal, Burkard Schwab, Anna-Lena Hinze, Thomas Giere, Thomas Lenarz
• Journal: International journal of audiology (Int J Audiol) Vol. 54 Issue 6 Pg. 391-400 (Jun 2015) ISSN: 1708-8186 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 25735204 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article)

Topics

• Acoustic Stimulation (instrumentation, methods)
• Adult
• Aged
• Audiometry
• Auditory Threshold
• Bone Conduction (physiology)
• Correction of Hearing Impairment (instrumentation, methods)
• Female
• Hearing Aids
• Hearing Loss, Mixed Conductive-Sensorineural (rehabilitation)
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Noise
• Ossicular Prosthesis
• Retrospective Studies
• Round Window, Ear (physiopathology)
• Speech Perception
• Young Adult