Bilateral vibrant soundbridge implantation: audiologic and subjective benefits in quiet and noisy environments.
CONCLUSIONS
The results support bilateral sequential implantation for patients who are not completely satisfied after implantation of one side.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the benefit of bilateral Vibrant Soundbridge middle ear implantation as compared with unilateral implantation in quiet and noisy environments.


METHODS
This was a multicentric and retrospective study of 15 patients with symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss who were implanted sequentially in both ears. The performance of each subject was compared under three conditions: with the right implant activated, with the left implant activated, and with both implants activated. Audiometric tests were compared with self-assessment subjective evaluation by questionnaire.


RESULTS
Both qualitative and quantitative assessments demonstrated improvement in speech intelligibility, especially in background noise, but also for low voice intensity in quiet.
Garin
Pierre
P
Departement of Otorhinolaryngology, Cliniques Universitaires de Mont-Godinne, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. pierre.garin@uclouvain.be
Schmerber
Sébastien
S
Magnan
Jacques
J
Truy
Eric
E
Uziel
Alain
A
Triglia
Jean-Michel
JM
Bebear
Jean-Pierre
JP
Labassi
Samia
S
Lavieille
Jean-Pierre
JP
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012931:Social Environment; D013067:Speech Perception; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test