Rehabilitation of severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with an active middle ear implant

Abstract

Background: Severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss (spSNHL) is mostly relying on the use of a cochlear implant (CI).

Aims: The present study reports on the auditory outcome from a group of subjects affected by spSNHL who received an AMEI application.

Materials and methods: Nine out of 43 subjects who received a fully-implantable AMEI were initially candidated as off-label (primary off-label group or POLG). Twelve subjects showed over time a decrease in bone conduction threshold (BCT) in the operated ear (Secondary Off-Label Group or SOLG): SOLGa with no detectable BCT (9 subjects), SOLGb with residual low-frequency BCT (3 subjects). The auditory assessment included pure tone audiometry and speech audiometry in quiet and noise.

Results: A significant PTA5 difference was found at activation in SOLGb group and at the last fitting in SOLGa Group in respect to the label control group. No significant difference was found between POLG group and control group. Speech audiometry in noise revealed a significant lower gain in all three groups in comparison to the control group.

Conclusions: The adoption of an AMEI in unconventional indications could be beneficial also for subjects with spSNHL, although this solution can in some cases only be transient before performing CI surgery.

Chinese abstract

背景：重度至几近完全感音神经性耳聋（spSNHL）主要依赖人工耳蜗植入治疗。

目的：本研究报告一组接受AMEI治疗的spSNHL患者的听力结果。

材料和方法：43名接受完全植入式AMEI的受试者中有9名最初被选为非标记组（初始非标记组或POLG）。随着时间的推移, 12名受试者的手术耳（第二非标记组或SOLG组）的骨传导阈值（BCT）降低：SOLGa组没有检测到BCT（9名受试者）, SOLGb组有残留低频BCT（3名受试者）。听觉评估包括安静和噪声下的纯音测听和言语测听。

结果：与标记对照组相比, SOLGb组激活时以及SOLGa组最后拟合时, PTA5有显著性差异。POLG组与对照组比较无显著性差异。噪声中的言语测听显示, 与对照组相比, 三组的增益均显著降低。

结论：在非常规表征症中采用AMEI对spSNHL患者也有好处, 尽管这种方法在某些情况下只能在进行CI手术前暂时使用。

Keywords:

• Sensorineural hearing loss
• active middle ear implants
• auditory rehabilitation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.