title: [Implantation of a vibratory mass transducer on the round window: a report of two cases].
abstract: The Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB, Med-El, Austria) is a semiimplantable hearing aid usually attached to the long process of the incus to vibrate the ossicular chain in patients with moderate to severe mixed hearing loss. We implanted a VSB vibratory transducer on the round window membrane of the left ear in two cases not treated effectively by tympanoplastic surgeries. Pure tone audiography did not differ significantly in the two cases pre- or postoperatively, indicating that the small mass transducer does not adversely affect middle-ear vibration. Postoperative hearing thresholds with VSBs were similar to those when patient 1 wore an air-conductive hearing aid and patient 2 wore a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA). VSB implantation on the round window could thus potentially benefit many patients with mixed hearing loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Osaki
authors.forename: Tomo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Kazumasa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kondoh
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwaki
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kubo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D005260:Female; D046089:Hearing Loss, Mixed Conductive-Sensorineural / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012405:Round Window, Ear; D014159:Transducers; D014732:Vibration