title: Is the Bone-Conduction HeadBand test useful for predicting the functional outcome of a round window active middle ear implant?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the reliability of the Bone Conduction-HeadBand (BC-HB) test for predicting the postoperative functional outcome of a round-window (RW) vibroplasty.
  
  
  METHODS
  Within-subject comparison of the functional results of the BC-HB test, which is routinely used for the preoperative evaluation of a bone-conduction transducer, with an active middle ear implant (AMEI) placed onto the round window.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tertiary referral university hospital center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven patients with similar anatomic (absent stapes superstructure) and functional (moderate, mixed hearing loss) sequelae from open tympanoplasty technique.
  
  
  METHODS
  All subjects underwent preoperative audiologic assessment with the BC-HB. Subsequently, all subjects underwent surgical placement of an AMEI onto the round window.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pure tone and speech audiometry in quiet and noise were assessed. Additionally, evaluation of specific satisfactory targets was performed using the Client Oriented Scale of Improvement.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pure tone and speech audiometry in quiet established that both devices had very similar performance and provided remarkable improvement compared with the unaided condition. However, high-frequency gain and speech audiometry in noise demonstrated better performance with RW-AMEI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients presenting with mixed hearing loss as a sequela from middle ear surgery, the preoperative BC-HB test may be helpful in predicting the final functional outcome and patient satisfaction with RW-AMEI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Otorhinolaryngologic Unit, Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monini
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Filippi
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Atturo
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barbara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001298:Audiology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001844:Bone Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D046089:Hearing Loss, Mixed Conductive-Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012405:Round Window, Ear / Q000601:surgery*; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014433:Tympanoplasty