title: Bone anchored hearing aids: reality, failure and current status.
abstract: Bone Anchored Hearing Aids have both cosmetic and acoustic advantages over most conventional hearing aids and hence is a popular choice today. We report the first Irish group of patients who received a BAHA over a six year period of time and evaluated outcomes of these subjects using subjective assessment. The medical records of all patients who received a BAHA at the Mater and Children's University Hospital, Dublin, were reviewed. A questionnaire had been sent to the patients to obtain long-term subjective information. Twenty three patients were identified. The commonest indication for surgery was found to be the presence of a discharging mastoid cavity, followed by congenital ear malformations. Surgical procedures were carried out as a single stage in 16 patients. Questionnaires were sent to 19 patients; sixteen patients responded in total. BAHA has a beneficial outcome to the quality of life and has significantly reduced ear discharge. The one stage technique was found to have a lower complication rate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, The Mater Hospital. kadhimlatif@hotmail.com
authors.forename: A l
authors.initials: Al
authors.lastname: Kadhim
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Colreavy
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Donovan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blayney
mesh_terms: D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000592:standards; D006310:Hearing Aids / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires