Hearing rehabilitation using the BAHA bone-anchored hearing aid : Results in 40 patients

• Published in: Otology & neurotology Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 328 - 334
• Main Authors: LUSTIG, Lawrence R, ARTS, H. Alexander, RUBENSTEIN, Jay T, SRIREDDY, Sharmilla, SYMS, Charles A, TAKAHASHI, Gail, VERNICK, David, WACKYM, Phillip A, NIPARKO, John K, BRACKMANN, Derald E, FRANCIS, Howard F, MOLONY, Tim, MEGERIAN, Cliff A, MOORE, Gary F, MOORE, Karen M, MORROW, Trish, POTSIC, William
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 01-05-2001
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation - instrumentation; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Bone Conduction - physiology; Diseases of the ear; Ear, auditive nerve, cochleovestibular tract, facial nerve: diseases, semeiology; Ent and stomatology; Equipment Design; Female; Hearing Aids; Hearing Loss, Conductive - physiopathology; Hearing Loss, Conductive - rehabilitation; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Non tumoral diseases; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Postoperative Care; Preoperative Care; Radiotherapy. Instrumental treatment. Physiotherapy. Reeducation. Rehabilitation, orthophony, crenotherapy. Diet therapy and various other treatments (general aspects); Retrospective Studies; United States; North America; America; Performance evaluation; Human; Pure tone audiometry; Audiometry; Indication; Internal ear disease; Middle ear disease; Treatment efficiency; Multicenter study; Auditory disorder; Bone conduction; Conduction hearing loss; Exploration; Genetic disease; Organ of hearing; Treatment; Etiology; Ear; Atresia; ENT disease; Otitis media; Base of the skull; Otosclerosis
• ISSN: 1531-7129; 1537-4505
• DOI: 10.1097/00129492-200105000-00010

This study evaluates the U.S. experience with the first 40 patients who have undergone audiologic rehabilitation using the BAHA bone-anchored hearing aid.
This study is a multicenter, nonblinded, retrospective case series.
Twelve tertiary referral medical centers in the United States.
Eligibility for BAHA implantation included patients with a hearing loss and an inability to tolerate a conventional hearing aid, with bone-conduction pure tone average levels at 60 dB or less at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz.
Patients who met audiologic and clinical criteria were implanted with the Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA, Entific Corp., Gothenburg, Sweden).
Preoperative air- and bone-conduction thresholds and air-bone gap; postoperative BAHA-aided thresholds; hearing improvement as a result of implantation; implantation complications; and patient satisfaction.
The most common indications for implantation included chronic otitis media or draining ears (18 patients) and external auditory canal stenosis or aural atresia (7 patients). Overall, each patient had an average improvement of 32+/-19 dB with the use of the BAHA. Closure of the air-bone gap to within 10 dB of the preoperative bone-conduction thresholds (postoperative BAHA-aided threshold vs. preoperative bone-conduction threshold) occurred in 32 patients (80%), whereas closure to within 5 dB occurred in 24 patients (60%). Twelve patients (30%) demonstrated 'overclosure' of the preoperative bone-conduction threshold of the better hearing ear. Complications were limited to local infection and inflammation at the implant site in three patients, and failure to osseointegrate in one patient. Patient response to the implant was uniformly satisfactory. Only one patient reported dissatisfaction with the device.
The BAHA bone-anchored hearing aid provides a reliable and predictable adjunct for auditory rehabilitation in appropriately selected patients, offering a means of dramatically improving hearing thresholds in patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss who are otherwise unable to benefit from traditional hearing aids.