Bone-anchored hearing aids in patients with sensorineural hearing loss and persistent otitis externa.
Recently, a new bone-conduction hearing aid has become available which can be connected percutaneously to the skull: the bone-anchored hearing aid or BAHA. Several clinical trials have shown its efficacy in patients with a conductive or mixed hearing loss. A second group of potential candidates are patients who suffer from an almost instantaneous skin reaction to any kind of earmould. Three such patients with a predominant sensorineural hearing loss were fitted with a BAHA. The aided free-field thresholds proved to be poor compared with the desired values using prescriptive rules. Speech recognition measured objectively (with tests) and subjectively (with a questionnaire) was comparable or better than with conventional bone-conduction hearing aids. Two patients were using their BAHA all day, whereas the third patient was only using it for a few hours per day. Although it did not produce optimal results, the BAHA seems to be the best solution for these patients.
Snik
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AF
Institute of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Nijmegen. The Netherlands.
Mylanus
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EA
Cremers
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CW
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001844:Bone Conduction; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006316:Hearing Loss, High-Frequency / Q000150:complications* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000150:complications* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013067:Speech Perception; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test