title: Transcutaneous bone-conduction hearing device: audiological and surgical aspects in a first series of patients with mixed hearing loss.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  The Bonebridge(®) (BB) transcutaneous bone conductive implant (BCI) may overcome some of the issues related to a percutaneous BCI, such as management of the external screw, delayed activation or possible skin complications. Moreover, it has been shown to enable a functional outcome similar to percutaneous BCI in both conductive and mixed types of hearing loss.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To obtain clinical data from a preliminary series of patients implanted with a new transcutaneous BCI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four subjects affected by conductive/mixed hearing loss underwent implantation of the BB by two approaches: the transmastoid, presigmoid approach and the retrosigmoid approach. Soundfield thresholds were assessed with warble tones in a soundproof audiometric booth, and word recognition scores (WRSs) as speech reception thresholds (SRTs) were used to compare the unaided versus the post-implantation condition.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The surgical procedure was completed in all cases, with only minor intraoperative divergence from the CT-based planning and no postoperative complications. The average improvement of the SRT in quiet with the BB in comparison to the unaided condition was 36.25 dB. All the implanted subjects reached SRT values below 65 dB, indicating a better understanding in quiet, with 100% word recognition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Medicine and Psychology, Otolaryngologic Clinic, Sapienza University , Rome.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barbara
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perotti
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gioia
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Volpini
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monini
mesh_terms: D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D001844:Bone Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D046089:Hearing Loss, Mixed Conductive-Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013506:Otologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D012405:Round Window, Ear / Q000601:surgery; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome