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Vibrant Soundbridge® in preschool children with unilateral aural atresia: acceptance and benefit

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

Abstract

The aim of this pilot study was to determine the acceptance and benefit from the middle ear implant system Vibrant Soundbridge® (VSB, MED-EL Corporation, Austria) by means of a questionnaire, compared to a previously used conventional bone conducting hearing device, in preschool children with unilateral congenital aural atresia. Prospective cohort study. All nine children with unilateral congenital aural atresia used the VSB and had previous experience with a bone conducting hearing device. The benefit from the VSB was evaluated by questionnaires concerning acceptance of hearing aids, handling, listening effort, behavior, quality of life, and the duration of daily use and compared to the experience with the bone conducting hearing device. In addition, to quantify the benefit from the VSB use, audiological assessment (pure-tone audiometry via free field testing, speech audiometry, and localization test) was performed with and without VSB. The questionnaires and audiological test results were compared pairwise. According to all questionnaire areas, children benefited significantly more from the VSB compared to bone conducting hearing device (ps <.05). The most important finding was a significant increase in daily use from 2 h for the bone conducting hearing device to 10 h for the VSB. Children performed significantly better with the VSB than without it in the audiological assessment. Children with unilateral aural atresia benefited significantly more from the VSB compared to a conventional bone conducting hearing device according to the parents’ questionnaires and yielded better results in the audiometry and localization test with the VSB than without it.

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Author notes

    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Frankfurt/Main, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

      M. Leinung & T. Stöver

    2. Department of Phoniatrics and Pediatric Audiology, University of Marburg, Baldingerstr. 1, 35032, Marburg, Germany

      E. Zaretsky & C. Hey

    3. Department of Media Psychology, Institute for Human-Computer-Media, Julius Maximilian University of Wuerzburg, Oswald-Kuelpe-Weg 82, 97074, Würzburg, Germany

      B. P. Lange

    4. MED-EL Corporation, Fürstenweg 77a, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

      V. Hoffmann

    Authors
    1. M. Leinung
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    2. E. Zaretsky
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    3. B. P. Lange
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    4. V. Hoffmann
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    5. T. Stöver
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    6. C. Hey
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    Correspondence to C. Hey.

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    Conflict of interest

    The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

    Ethical approval

    All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

    Informed consent

    Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Earlier results of this study were reported by Barbara Vaerst, Yevgen Zaretsky, Martin Leinung, Timo Stöver, and Christiane Hey at the 85th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, 28.05-01.06.2014, Dortmund, Germany, in an oral presentation “Versorgung von unilateralen Gehörgangsatresien bei Vorschulkindern mit einer Vibrant Soundbridge®: Erfassung der Versorgungsqualität”.

    Additional information

    M. Leinung and E. Zaretsky contributed equally to this work.

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    Leinung, M., Zaretsky, E., Lange, B.P. et al. Vibrant Soundbridge® in preschool children with unilateral aural atresia: acceptance and benefit. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 274, 159–165 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-016-4265-1

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-016-4265-1

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