title: Experience with the Vibrant Soundbridge RW-Coupler for round window Vibroplasty with tympanosclerosis.
abstract: Abstract   Usage of the Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) with round window (RW)-Coupler placement at the RW has been shown to successfully treat mixed hearing loss. Coupling between the VSB's floating mass transducer (FMT) and the RW membrane is difficult in the case of sclerosis in the RW and drilling down the bony lip until the RW membrane can be seen completely can possibly induce a perilymphatic fistula. A 68-year-old woman who had bilateral mixed hearing loss with sclerosis in the RW due to tympanosclerosis underwent a RW-Vibroplasty with a RW-Coupler. Speech discrimination scores in quiet and noise and functional gain with the VSB with RW-Coupler were better than those using a conventional hearing aid. The results of the present case have shown the feasibility of implanting a VSB with RW-Coupler in patients with mixed hearing loss due to tympanosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hearing Implant Sciences, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto city, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moteki
authors.forename: Maiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyagawa
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takumi
authors.forename: Shin-Ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Usami
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D001844:Bone Conduction; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D046089:Hearing Loss, Mixed Conductive-Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D009998:Ossicular Prosthesis; D012405:Round Window, Ear / Q000601:surgery*; D012598:Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D014432:Tympanic Membrane / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery