Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Bone conduction hearing in congenital aural atresia

  • Otology
  • Published:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Previous researches focusing on BC hearing mechanisms proved that the two routes, (1) EAC sound radiation and (2) inertial of ossicular chain, partially contribute to normal BC hearing. Therefore, the BC hearing for those patients with congenital aural atresia should partially decrease theoretically due to their abnormal anatomy. However, there are not many studies which mention these patients’ BC hearing up till now. The objective of this study is to investigate congenital aural atresia patient’s BC hearing by analysis of pre-surgical audiogram and to study their potential BC hearing mechanisms using animal modeling and their ABR measurements. The study methoed involves analyzing 75 patients’ pre-operative audiogram. Then we produced an animal model by surgery to measure their BC hearing threshold changes. Clinical data showed that those patients had some BC hearing loss; and there were 25 cases (25/75, 33.3 %) which present with typical Carhart’s Notch. The animal experiments proved that inertia of ossicular chain contribute to partial BC hearing, which demonstrated that the inertia produced more affects on high frequencies by comparing with low frequencies. The patients with congenital aural atresia present BC hearing loss, which could be mainly ascribed to the absence of inertia of ossicular chain.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Declau F, Cremers C, Van de Heyning P (1999) Diagnosis and management strategies in congenital atresia of the external auditory canal. Br J Audiol 33:313–327

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. EI-Begermy MA, Mansour OI, EI-Makhzangy AM, EI-Gindy TS (2009) Congenital auditory meatal atresia: a numerical review. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 266(4):501–506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Schuknecht HF (1989) Congenital aural atresia. Laryngoscope 99:908–917

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Stenfelt S, Goode RL (2005) Bone-conducted sound: physiological and clinical aspects. Otol Neurotol 26(6):1245–1261

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Zhang JP, Liang XF, Qu YK, Chen HJ, Xu YD, Zhang ZG, Zhen YQ, Chen L (2006) Audiological assessment of patients with congenital external and middle ear malformation. J Audiol Speech Pathol 14(3):187–189

    Google Scholar 

  6. He LR, Zhuang HX (2007) Long-term investigation of hearing reconstruction in congenital microtia syndrome patients. Chin J Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg 42(8):619–620

    Google Scholar 

  7. Nelissen RC, Mylanus EA, Cremers CW, Hol MK, Snik AF (2015) Long-term compliance and satisfaction with percutaneous bone conduction devices in patients with congenital unilateral conductive hearing loss. Otol Neurotol 36(5):826–833

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Agterberg MJ, Frenzel H, Wollenberg B, Somers T, Cremers CW, Snik AF (2014) Amplification options in unilateral aural atresia: an active middle ear implant or a bone conduction device? Otol Neurotol 35(1):129–135

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Carhart R (1950) Clinical application of bone conduction audiometry. Arch Otolaryngol 51(6):798–808

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Kashio A, Ito K, Kakigi A, Karino S, Iwasaki S, Sakamoto T, Yasui T, Suzuki M, Yamasoba T (2011) Carhart notch 2-kHz bone conduction threshold dip: a nondefinitive predictor of stapes fixation in conductive hearing loss with normal tympanic membrane. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 137(3):236–240

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Khanna SM, Tonndorf J, Queller J (1976) Mechanical parameters of hearing by bone conduction. J Acoust Soc Am 60:139–154

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Tonndorf J (1966) Bone conduction. Studies in experimental animals. Acta Oto-Laryngol 213(Suppl):1–132

    Google Scholar 

  13. Barany E (1938) A contribution to the physiology of bone conduction. Acta Oto-Layngol 26(Suppl):1–129

    Google Scholar 

  14. Huizing EH (1960) Bone conduction-the influence of the middle ear. Acta Oto-Laryngol 155(Suppl):1–99

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Khanna SM, Tonndorf J, Queller J (1976) Mechanical parameters of hearing by bone conduction. J Acoust Soc Am 60:139–154

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Tonndorf J, Greenfield EC, Kaufman RS (1964) Occlusion effect of the external-ear canal and its effect upon bone conduction. J Acoust Soc Am 36(5):1049

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Dean MS, Martin FN (2000) Insert earphone depth and the occlusion effect. Am J Audiol 9(2):131–134

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Stenfelt S, Wild T, Hato N, Goode RL (2003) Factors contributing to bone conduction: the outer ear. J Acoust Sco Am 113(2):902–913

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Tsai V, Ostroff J, Korman M, Chen JM (2005) Bone-conduction hearing and the occlusion effect in otosclerosis and normal controls. Otol Neurotol 26:1138–1142

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Elpern BS, Naunton RF (1963) The stability of the occlusion effect. Arch Otolaryngol 77:376–382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Kelley N, Reger S (1937) Effect of binaural occlusion of the external auditory meati on the sensitivity of the normal ear for bone conducted sound:1. Exp psycho 21:211–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Kirikae I (1959) An experimental study on the fundamental mechanism of bone conduction. Acta Otolaryngol 145:1–111

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Stenfelt S, Naohito Hato, Goode RL (2002) Factors contributing to bone conduction: The middle ear. J Acoust Soc Am 111(2):947–959

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Stenfelt S (2006) Middle ear ossicles motion at hearing thresholds with air conduction and bone conduction stimulation. J Acoust Soc Am 119(5 Pt 1):2848–2858

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Heffner RS (2004) Primate hearing from a mammalian perspective. Anat Rec Part A 281A:1111–1122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Romo T 3rd, Morris LG, Reitzen SD, Ghossaini SN, Wazen JJ, Kohan D (2009) Reconstruction of congenital microtia-atresia: outcomes with the MedPor/bone-anchored hearing aid-approach. Ann Plast Surg 62(4):384–389

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Koontakis SE, Helidonis E, Jahrsdoerfer RA (1995) Microtia grade as an indicator of middle ear development in aural atrasia. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 121:885–886

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank The Newly Hundred Promising Talents Training Program from Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau (No. XBR2011068) and The Scholarship Award for Promising Scientists from China Ministry of Education in 2011 providing finial support for this research. In addition, the authors want to express their appreciations to Professor Geoffrey A. Manley for his help in revising language for this manuscript.

Author information

Author notes

    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Fudan University (Formerly Shanghai Medical University), 83 Fenyang Rd, Xuhui Disctrict, Shanghai, 200031, People’s Republic of China

      Lichun Zhang, Na Gao, Youzhou Xie, Ying Chen & Tianyu Zhang

    2. Department of Audiology, Fudan University (Formerly Shanghai Medical University), 83 Fenyang Rd, Xuhui Disctrict, Shanghai, 200031, People’s Republic of China

      Yanbo Yin

    3. Research Center, Shanghai Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, Fudan University (Formerly Shanghai Medical University), 83 Fenyang Rd, Xuhui Disctrict, Shanghai, 200031, People’s Republic of China

      Lin Yang & Peidong Dai

    Authors
    1. Lichun Zhang
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    2. Na Gao
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    3. Yanbo Yin
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    4. Lin Yang
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    5. Youzhou Xie
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    6. Ying Chen
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    7. Peidong Dai
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    8. Tianyu Zhang
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    Corresponding author

    Correspondence to Tianyu Zhang.

    Ethics declarations

    Conflict of interest

    We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

    Additional information

    L. Zhang and N. Gao contributed equally for this study.

    Rights and permissions

    Reprints and permissions

    About this article

    Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

    Cite this article

    Zhang, L., Gao, N., Yin, Y. et al. Bone conduction hearing in congenital aural atresia. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 273, 1697–1703 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-015-3727-1

    Download citation

    • Received:

    • Accepted:

    • Published:

    • Issue Date:

    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-015-3727-1

    Keywords

    Search

    Navigation