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Benefits of active middle ear implants in mixed hearing loss: Stapes versus round window
Author(s) -
Lee Jeon Mi,
Jung Jinsei,
Moon In Seok,
Kim Sung Huhn,
Choi Jae Young
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.26244
Subject(s) - stapes , medicine , middle ear , bone conduction , round window , implant , audiology , audiogram , hearing loss , incus , oval window , dentistry , surgery , cochlea
Objectives/Hypothesis We compared the audiologic benefits of active middle ear implants with those of passive middle ear implants with hearing aids in mixed hearing loss, and also compared the outcomes of stapes vibroplasty with those of round window vibroplasty. Study Design Retrospective chart review. Methods Thirty‐four patients with mixed hearing loss due to chronic otitis media were treated with a middle ear implant. Of these, 15 were treated with a passive middle ear implant (conventional ossiculoplasty with a partial ossicular replacement prosthesis), nine with an active middle ear implant coupling to the stapes, and 10 with an active middle ear implant coupling to the round window. Patients underwent pure‐tone/free‐field audiograms and speech discrimination tests before surgery and 6 months after surgery, and the results of these tests were compared. Results The active middle ear implant resulted in better outcomes than the passive middle ear implant with hearing aids at mid to high frequencies ( P < .05). Patients who received either a stapes vibroplasty or a round window vibroplasty showed comparable hearing gain except at 8,000 Hz (48.9 dB vs. 31.0 dB, P < .05). Patients who received a stapes vibroplasty showed an improvement even in bone conduction at 1,000 Hz and 2,000 Hz (both P < .05). Conclusions Active middle ear implantation could be a better option than treatment with passive middle ear implants with hearing aids for achieving rehabilitation in patients with mixed hearing loss. Vibroplasty via either oval window or round window stimulation shares similar good results. Level of Evidence 4 Laryngoscope , 127:1435–1441, 2017