Fully Implantable Active Middle Ear Implants After Subtotal Petrosectomy With Fat Obliteration: Preliminary Clinical Results.

Objectives: In patients with chronic middle ear disease, especially after revision surgery for ventilation problems and mixed hearing loss, active middle ear implants may provide an alternative treatment option. The fully implantable active middle-ear implant (FI-AMEI) is designed for implantation in a ventilated mastoid with an intact posterior canal wall. Until now, there have been no reports on audiometric results after implantation of a FI-AMEI in a fat-obliterated cavity after subtotal petrosectomy (SPE).

Study Design: Retrospective case review.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Patients: Twelve patients were included after numerous previous tympanoplasty surgeries for severe mixed hearing loss and FI-AMEI implantation.

Intervention: In five patients, the FI-AMEI was implanted in a cavity, with fat obliteration, after SPE. Seven patients received FI-AMEI implantation after intact canal wall (ICW) surgery.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Audiometric results (pure-tone audiometry, Freiburger monosyllables) are demonstrated for 12 patients after an observation period of 3 months.

Results: The improvement in monosyllable score was 40 to 85% for the 12 patients. Free-field-aided thresholds showed high heterogeneity.

Conclusion: FI-AMEI implantation combined with SPE provides an alternative approach to hearing rehabilitation to non-FI-AMEI implantation. Studies with a high number of patients and long-term observation periods are necessary to statistically verify these results.