Comparison of superelastic nitinol stapes prostheses and platin teflon stapes prostheses.

Introduction: Stapes plasty is an established procedure to improve hearing in case of otosclerosis. By reinforcing the prostheses, an optimization of the prosthesis could be achieved. The aim of the study was to evaluate the audiological results of the Nitinol Superelastic stapes prosthesis compared with a Platin-Teflon prosthesis.

Material And Methods: In a retrospecitve setting, the audiological results of nine patients who have been implanted with a Nitinol Alloy Superelastic stapes prothesis were compared with the results of ten patients, which have been implanted with a Platinum-Teflon piston prostesis. All operations were performed by the same experienced ear surgeon.

Results: The Nitinol-group presented an average of postoperative air-bone-gap over all frequencies (0.5-6 kHz) of all patients of 15.1 dB. In the Platin-Teflon group, the average of postoperative air-bone-gap was 14.9 dB. Moreover, the post surgery delta-bone-conduction pre- to post surgery showed no differences (0.5-6 kHz). There were no surgical complications in both groups.

Conclusion: Based on the patient collective, stapes plasty using a Nitinol Superelastic stapes prosthesis is a sufficient method for improving the hearing conduction.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Setting: University Department.