Objectives: The principal aim of this study was to assess the safety and effectiveness of the middle ear implant Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) in patients with moderate-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss up to a mean (± standard deviation) duration of 11.1 ± 2.1 years (min. = 8.2, max. = 13.9, n = 16) after the intervention. Design: This was a retrospective, single-subject repeated-measurements study over a long-term period. A total of 104 German-speaking adults (for 122 implants) were included in this study (54 male, 50 female). The mean age at implantation was 54.5 years (min. = 19.0, max. = 80.4). Audiological outcome and speech intelligibility were assessed in all VSB patients at different time points in non-overlapping groups. Results: Bone conduction (BC) thresholds were preserved after the implantation and no indication was found of an increase over time of the small air-bone gaps introduced by the implantation. BC and air conduction thresholds worsened similarly in both implanted and non-implanted ears over time. The decrease in audiological benefit provided by the VSB was moderate and the Word Recognition Score in quiet conditions at 65 dB SPL was still largely improved with the VSB in the longest observed group. Conclusions: These results confirm that the VSB does not affect the integrity of the inner/middle ear and is still beneficial in long-term follow-up.

Keywords:
Sensorineural hearing loss, Middle ear implant, Vibrant Soundbridge implantations, Incus vibroplasty
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2015
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