Long-Term Clinical Outcomes for Bone-Anchored Hearing Implants: 3-Year Comparison Between Minimally Invasive Ponto Surgery and the Linear Incision Technique With Tissue Preservation.

Objective: To compare the 3-year outcomes of the modified minimally invasive Ponto surgery (m-MIPS) to both the original MIPS (o-MIPS) and linear incision technique with soft tissue preservation (LIT-TP) for inserting bone-anchored hearing implants (BAHIs).

Study Design: Prospective study with three patient groups: m-MIPS, o-MIPS, and LIT-TP.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Improving Real-Time Feedback During Cochlear Implantation: The Auditory Nerve Neurophonic/Cochlear Microphonic Ratio.

Objectives: Real-time monitoring of cochlear function to predict the loss of residual hearing after cochlear implantation is now possible. Current approaches monitor the cochlear microphonic (CM) during implantation from the electrode at the tip of the implant. A drop in CM response of >30% is associated with poorer hearing outcomes.

Auditory working memory in noise in cochlear implant users: Insights from behavioural and neuronal measures.

Objective: We investigated auditory working-memory using behavioural measures and electroencephalography (EEG) in adult Cochlear Implant (CI) users with varying degrees of CI performance.

Methods: 24 adult CI listeners (age: M = 61.38, SD = 12.

Changes in participatory and societal outcomes during the waiting period for cochlear implantation - an observational study.

Introduction: Various factors, including an aging population and expanding eligibility criteria, may increase the demand for cochlear implants (CIs), potentially resulting in longer waiting times. In most Dutch CI centers, the time between referral and surgery exceeds 6 months. Clinical experience suggests that during the waiting period for cochlear implantation, hearing and communication difficulties increase.

Long-Term Outcomes of Cochlear Implantation in Usher Syndrome.

Objectives: Usher syndrome (USH), characterized by bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP), prompts increased reliance on hearing due to progressive visual deterioration. It can be categorized into three subtypes: USH type 1 (USH1), characterized by severe to profound congenital SNHL, childhood-onset RP, and vestibular areflexia; USH type 2 (USH2), presenting with moderate to severe progressive SNHL and RP onset in the second decade, with or without vestibular dysfunction; and USH type 3 (USH3), featuring variable progressive SNHL beginning in childhood, variable RP onset, and diverse vestibular function. Previous studies evaluating cochlear implant (CI) outcomes in individuals with USH used varying or short follow-up durations, while others did not evaluate outcomes for each subtype separately.

Long-Term Outcomes of a Percutaneous Wide-Diameter Bone-Anchored Hearing Implant: A Clinical Evaluation of More than 800 Implants.

Objective: This study evaluates the clinical outcomes of 807 percutaneous wide-diameter bone-anchored hearing implants (BAHIs) in 701 patients. In addition, it compares patient groups and examines bone conduction device (BCD) usage.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Surgical Treatment for Troublesome Mastoid Cavities: Canal Wall Reconstruction With Bony Obliteration Versus Subtotal Petrosectomy.

Introduction: A chronically discharging modified radical mastoid cavity may require surgical intervention. We aim to explore two techniques.

Objective: To compare outcomes of subtotal petrosectomy (STP) and canal wall reconstruction with bony obliteration technique (CWR-BOT).

Stable long-term outcomes after cochlear implantation in subjects with TMPRSS3 associated hearing loss: a retrospective multicentre study.

Background: The spiral ganglion hypothesis suggests that pathogenic variants in genes preferentially expressed in the spiral ganglion nerves (SGN), may lead to poor cochlear implant (CI) performance. It was long thought that TMPRSS3 was particularly expressed in the SGNs. However, this is not in line with recent reviews evaluating CI performance in subjects with TMPRSS3-associated sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) reporting overall beneficial outcomes.

Phoneme Training for Adult Cochlear Implant Users: A Review of the Literature and Study Protocol.

Purpose: This study describes a protocol for a novel individualized phoneme training program for adult cochlear implant (CI) users, based on individual phoneme confusion errors. The protocol is underpinned by a literature review on phoneme training and a focus group with adult CI users.

Method: After a literature search, five studies were included for review and evaluation of quality and level of evidence.

Variability in clinicians' prediction accuracy for outcomes of adult cochlear implant users.

Objective: The variability in outcomes among adult cochlear implant (CI) users poses challenges for clinicians in accurately predicting the benefits of the implant for individual candidates. This study aimed to investigate the accuracy and confidence of clinicians in predicting speech perception outcomes for adult CI users one-year post-implantation.

Design: Participants were presented with comprehensive information on pre-implantation, one-month post-implantation, and six-month post-implantation data for 10 case studies.

The relation between cochlear implant programming levels and speech perception performance in post-lingually deafened adults: a data-driven approach.

Purpose: Programming a cochlear implant (fitting) is an essential part of a user's post-implantation journey, defining how sound will be translated into electrical stimulation and aiming to provide optimal speech perception outcomes. Currently, there are no established, evidence-based guidelines for fitting cochlear implant users, leading to a high degree of variability in fitting practices, users' parameters, and probably outcomes. In this study a data-driven approach is used to retrospectively investigate the relation between cochlear implant fitting parameters and speech perception outcomes in post-lingually deafened adults.

Human Histology after Structure Preservation Cochlear Implantation via Round Window Insertion.

Objectives: Current surgical techniques aim to preserve intracochlear structures during cochlear implant (CI) insertion to maintain residual cochlear function. The optimal technique to minimize damage, however, is still under debate. The aim of this study is to histologically compare insertional trauma and intracochlear tissue formation in humans with a CI implanted via different insertion techniques.

Post-implantation clinical cost analysis between transcutaneous and percutaneous bone conduction devices.

Introduction: Bone conduction devices (BCD) are effective for hearing rehabilitation in patients with conductive and mixed hearing loss or single-sided deafness. Transcutaneous bone conduction devices (tBCD) seem to lead to fewer soft tissue complications than percutaneous BCDs (pBCD) but have other drawbacks such as MRI incompatibility and higher costs. Previous cost analyses have shown a cost advantage of tBCDs.

Changes on clinical and participatory outcomes in people with severe-to-profound hearing loss after cochlear implantation: protocol of a multicentre prospective observational cohort study - Societal Merit of Intervention on Hearing Loss Evaluation (SMILE).

Introduction: Cochlear implantation (CI) is a (cost-)effective intervention for people with severe or profound hearing loss. Since its introduction experience increased and the technology evolved, leading to better results and relaxation of CI eligibility criteria. Meanwhile, with national healthcare costs increasing there is a need for evidence of healthcare technology's value.

Exploring neurocognitive factors and brain activation in adult cochlear implant recipients associated with speech perception outcomes-A scoping review.

Background: Cochlear implants (CIs) are considered an effective treatment for severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss. However, speech perception outcomes are highly variable among adult CI recipients. Top-down neurocognitive factors have been hypothesized to contribute to this variation that is currently only partly explained by biological and audiological factors.

Cochlear Implants or Hearing Aids: Speech Perception, Language, and Executive Function Outcomes.

Objectives: We aimed to determine whether children with severe hearing loss (HL) who use hearing aids (HAs) may experience added value in the perception of speech, language development, and executive function (EF) compared to children who are hard of hearing (HH) or children who are deaf and who use cochlear implants (CIs) and would benefit from CIs over HAs. The results contribute to the ongoing debate concerning CI criteria. We addressed the following research question to achieve this aim: Do children who are HH or deaf with CIs perform better than children with severe HL with HAs with respect to auditory speech perception, and receptive vocabulary and/or EF?

Design: We compared two groups of children with severe HL, profound HL or deafness, with CIs or HAs, matched for gender, test age (range, 8 to 15 years), socioeconomic status, and nonverbal intelligence quotient.

Long-Term Follow-up of a Wide-Diameter Bone-Anchored Hearing Implant: 10-Year Experience on Stability, Survival, and Tolerability of an Implant-Abutment Combination.

Objective: To compare stability, survival, and soft tissue reactions between a wide-diameter (test) and previous-generation small-diameter (control) bone-anchored hearing implant and to ascertain the safety of loading the test implant 3 weeks after surgery, at a long-term follow-up of 10 years.

Study Design: This study is a continuation of two previously completed, multicenter, randomized, controlled trials and consisted of one to two additional follow-up visits until 10 years after surgery.

Patients: Fifty-one of the 72 participants from the previous trials were included.

Monitoring Cochlear Health With Intracochlear Electrocochleography During Cochlear Implantation: Findings From an International Clinical Investigation.

Objectives: Electrocochleography (ECochG) is emerging as a tool for monitoring cochlear function during cochlear implant (CI) surgery. ECochG may be recorded directly from electrodes on the implant array intraoperatively. For low-frequency stimulation, its amplitude tends to rise or may plateau as the electrode is inserted.

Benefit of sequential bilateral cochlear implantation in children between 5 to 18 years old: A prospective cohort study.

Objective: To determine the benefit of sequential cochlear implantation after a long inter-implantation interval in children with bilateral deafness receiving their second implant between 5 and 18 years of age.

Study Design: Prospective cohort-study.

Setting: Tertiary multicenter.

Impact of Expanding Eligibility Criteria for Cochlear Implantation - Dynamic Modeling Study.

Objectives: Eligibility criteria for cochlear implantation (CI) are shifting due to technological and surgical improvements. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of further expanding unilateral CI criteria in those with severe hearing loss (HL) (61-80 dBHL) in terms of number of CI recipients, costs, quality of life, and cost-effectiveness.

Methods: A dynamic population-based Markov model was constructed mimicking the Dutch population in three age categories over a period of 20 years.