title: Bilateral vibrant soundbridge implantation: audiologic and subjective benefits in quiet and noisy environments.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Departement of Otorhinolaryngology, Cliniques Universitaires de Mont-Godinne, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. pierre.garin@uclouvain.be
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garin
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmerber
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Magnan
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Truy
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uziel
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Triglia
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Bebear
authors.forename: Samia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Labassi
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lavieille
mesh_terms: 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