Audiometric Comparison Between the First Patients With the Transcutaneous Bone Conduction Implant and Matched Percutaneous Bone Anchored Hearing Device Users.

Hypothesis: The transcutaneous bone conduction implant (BCI) is compared with bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHAs) under the hypothesis that the BCI can give similar rehabilitation from an audiological as well as patient-related point of view.

Background: Patients suffering from conductive and mixed hearing losses can often benefit more from rehabilitation using bone conduction devices (BCDs) rather than conventional air conduction devices. The most widely used BCD is the percutaneous BAHA, with a permanent skin-penetrating abutment.

Stability, Survival, and Tolerability of an Auditory Osseointegrated Implant for Bone Conduction Hearing: Long-Term Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To compare implant stability, survival, and soft tissue reactions for a novel (test) and previous generation (control) percutaneous auditory osseointegrated implant for bone conduction hearing at long-term follow-up of 5 years.

Study Design: Single follow-up visit of a previously completed multicenter, randomized, controlled trial.

Patients: Fifty-seven of the 77 participants of a completed randomized controlled trial on a new auditory osseointegrated implant underwent a single follow-up visit 5 years after implantation, which comprised implant stability measurements and collection of Holgers scores.

Wireless and acoustic hearing with bone-anchored hearing devices.

Objective: The efficacy of wireless connectivity in bone-anchored hearing was studied by comparing the wireless and acoustic performance of the Ponto Plus sound processor from Oticon Medical relative to the acoustic performance of its predecessor, the Ponto Pro.

Study Sample: Nineteen subjects with more than two years' experience with a bone-anchored hearing device were included. Thirteen subjects were fitted unilaterally and six bilaterally.

Percutaneous bone-anchored hearing implant surgery: inside or outside the line of incision?

The objective of this historical cohort study was to compare soft tissue reactions in adults after bone-anchored hearing implant (BAHI) surgery when the percutaneous implant is placed inside or outside the line of incision. All adult patients who received a percutaneous BAHI between 1 January 2010 and 31 January 2014 in our tertiary referral centre were identified. Patients were selected if operated by two surgeons, who perform the same standardised linear incision technique with one of them placing the implant outside the incision while the other prefers placement inside the line of incision.

Controlled Clinical Trial on Bone-anchored Hearing Implants and a Surgical Technique With Soft-tissue Preservation.

Objective: To compare the clinical and audiological outcomes after linear incision with soft-tissue preservation and standard linear incision with soft-tissue reduction for placement of percutaneous bone-anchored hearing implants.

Study Design: Clinical trial with historical control-group from a previous randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Three-year experience with the Sophono in children with congenital conductive unilateral hearing loss: tolerability, audiometry, and sound localization compared to a bone-anchored hearing aid.

Bone conduction devices (BCDs) are advocated as an amplification option for patients with congenital conductive unilateral hearing loss (UHL), while other treatment options could also be considered. The current study compared a transcutaneous BCD (Sophono) with a percutaneous BCD (bone-anchored hearing aid, BAHA) in 12 children with congenital conductive UHL. Tolerability, audiometry, and sound localization abilities with both types of BCD were studied retrospectively.

Clinical results of Cochlear™ BIA300 in children: Experience in two tertiary referral centers.

Objectives: To evaluate clinical outcomes of the Cochlear™ BIA300 in the pediatric population.

Study Design: Historical cohort study.

Setting: Two tertiary referral centers.

Application and Interpretation of Resonance Frequency Analysis in Auditory Osseointegrated Implants: A Review of Literature and Establishment of Practical Recommendations.

Objective: To establish standardization of implant stability measurements in auditory osseointegrated implants by means of resonance frequency analysis (RFA) through reviewing the currently published literature.

Methods: Studies reporting on RFA in auditory osseointegrated implants were identified, and the outcomes and the way these were reported were evaluated.

Results: Thirteen clinical studies reporting RFA outcomes of auditory osseointegrated implants were identified and analyzed, which demonstrated variations in methodology and reporting of data.

Loading of osseointegrated implants for bone conduction hearing at 3 weeks: 3-year stability, survival, and tolerability.

The objective of this study was to ascertain the long-term safety of loading osseointegrated implants for bone conduction hearing 3 weeks post-surgery. Thirty consecutive adult patients were implanted with the Baha BI300 (Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions) in our tertiary referral center. Implants were loaded with the sound processor 3 weeks post-surgery.

Bone-anchored hearing implants in single-sided deafness patients: Long-term use and satisfaction by gender.

Objectives/hypothesis: To examine the long-term satisfaction and possible effects of gender in patients with single-sided deafness (SSD) who underwent bone-anchored hearing implant (BAHI) surgery.

Study Design: Retrospective case-control study.

Methods: All (n = 145) consecutive SSD patients fitted with a BAHI between January 2001 and October 2011 were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB), the Communication Profile for the Hearing Impaired (CPHI), and the SSD questionnaire.

Long-term Compliance and Satisfaction With Percutaneous Bone Conduction Devices in Patients With Congenital Unilateral Conductive Hearing Loss.

Objective: Patients with congenital unilateral conductive hearing loss (UCHL) can either be watchful monitored or treated surgically through the fitting of a percutaneous bone conduction device (BCD) or, in some cases, atresia repair. The current study evaluated the long-term compliance and satisfaction with a percutaneous BCD in this specific population.

Study Design: Fifty-three consecutive patients with congenital UCHL treated with a percutaneous BCD in our tertiary referral center between 1998 and 2011 were identified.

Stability, survival, and tolerability of a 4.5-mm-wide bone-anchored hearing implant: 6-month data from a randomized controlled clinical trial.

The objective of this study was to compare the stability, survival, and tolerability of 2 percutaneous osseointegrated titanium implants for bone conduction hearing: a 4.5-mm diameter implant (test) and a 3.75-mm diameter implant (control).

Long-term stability, survival, and tolerability of a novel osseointegrated implant for bone conduction hearing: 3-year data from a multicenter, randomized, controlled, clinical investigation.

Objective: To compare the 3-year stability, survival, and tolerability of 2 osseointegrated implants for bone conduction hearing: a wide 4.5-mm-diameter moderately roughened implant with a rounded 6-mm abutment (test) and a 3.75-mm diameter as-machined implant with a conically shaped 5.

Single-sided deafness and directional hearing: contribution of spectral cues and high-frequency hearing loss in the hearing ear.

Direction-specific interactions of sound waves with the head, torso, and pinna provide unique spectral-shape cues that are used for the localization of sounds in the vertical plane, whereas horizontal sound localization is based primarily on the processing of binaural acoustic differences in arrival time (interaural time differences, or ITDs) and sound level (interaural level differences, or ILDs). Because the binaural sound-localization cues are absent in listeners with total single-sided deafness (SSD), their ability to localize sound is heavily impaired. However, some studies have reported that SSD listeners are able, to some extent, to localize sound sources in azimuth, although the underlying mechanisms used for localization are unclear.

Evaluation of a new powerful bone-anchored hearing system: a comparison study.

Background: The recent introduction of digital hearing aid technology for bone-conduction devices employing percutaneous stimulation may be beneficial for patients with conductive and mixed hearing loss and single sided deafness.

Purpose: Performance of a recently released sound processor for bone-anchored implants, the Ponto Pro Power from Oticon Medical (bone-conduction device 2 [BCD2]), was compared with that of the Baha Intenso from Cochlear (bone-conduction device 1 [BCD1]).

Research Design: Direct comparison of the subject's own device (BCD1) with the new device (BCD2) was examined in a nonrandomized design.

Bilateral bone conduction devices: improved hearing ability in children with bilateral conductive hearing loss.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate whether children with bilateral conductive hearing loss benefit from their second device (i.e., the bilateral bone conduction device [BCD]).

Comparison of sound processing strategies for osseointegrated bone conduction implants in mixed hearing loss: multiple-channel nonlinear versus single-channel linear processing.

Objectives: Evaluation of a single-channel linear bone conduction implant sound processor (S-BCI) and a multiple-channel nonlinear bone conduction implant sound processor (M-BCI) with objective and subjective measures in patients with mixed hearing loss.

Study Design: In total, 20 patients with mixed hearing loss were included in the study. For either sound processor aided thresholds and speech perception in quiet with monosyllables were measured.

Comparison between a new implantable transcutaneous bone conductor and percutaneous bone-conduction hearing implant.

Objectives: Despite good results on osseointegration and limited skin reactions with percutaneous bone conductors, there remains room for improvement. Especially in children, adverse events with percutaneous bone conductors might occur more frequently. Transcutaneous bone conductors, if powerful enough, can provide a solution that minimizes adverse events and implant loss.

Long-term quality of life assessment in patients with auricular prostheses.

Objective: To investigate the quality of life of people with an auricular prosthesis.

Methods: A retrospective case series study was conducted. Quality of life was evaluated by an open-ended question form and 3 questionnaires: the Glasgow Benefit Inventory, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale, and the standard Medical Outcome Study Short-Form 12.