title: The bone-anchored hearing aid for children: recent developments.
abstract: In 1984 the Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid, or BAHA, system was introduced. Its transducer is coupled directly to the skull percutaneously to form a highly effective bone-conduction hearing device. Clinical studies on adults with conductive hearing loss have shown that the BAHA system outperforms conventional bone-conduction hearing aids. Therefore, the next step was to apply the BAHA system in children with congenital or acquired conductive hearing loss. Reviewed data showed that, on average, such children benefited significantly more from the BAHA than from reconstructive surgery. Thus, BAHA application appears to be the best option to achieve normal communication and speech and language development in children with bilateral conductive hearing loss. However, in children under the age of three to four years, a conventional solution must be applied, e.g. a bone conductor with a transcutaneous coupling, because they are too young to undergo BAHA implant surgery. In the case of unilateral congenital conductive hearing loss, there is no convincing evidence in the clinical literature for early intervention. In summary, the BAHA system can be considered a new, indispensable tool for children with bilateral conductive hearing loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Radboud University, Nijmegen Medical Centre, the Netherlands. a.snik@kno.umcn.nl
authors.forename: Ad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Snik
authors.forename: Joop
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leijendeckers
authors.forename: Myrthe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hol
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mylanus
authors.forename: Cor
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cremers
mesh_terms: D001844:Bone Conduction; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D012048:Correction of Hearing Impairment; D004867:Equipment Design; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006314:Hearing Loss, Conductive / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D046088:Hearing Loss, Unilateral / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D013506:Otologic Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects; D010348:Patient Care Team; D018579:Patient Selection; D013067:Speech Perception; D016896:Treatment Outcome