Hearing Rehabilitation of Single-Sided Deafness: Benefit and Selection Criteria of Bone Anchored Hearing Aid and Contralateral Routing of Signal Hearing Aid

Abstract

Background and ObjectivesZZThere are two ways to route sound from a deaf hemifield to a functional ear: the bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA) and the contralateral routing of signal hearing aid (CROS HA). BAHA uses transcranial bone conduction; on the other hand, CROS HA uses air conduction. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the benefit of these auditory rehabilitation devices objectively and subjectively, and to analyze factors that affect daily using time. Subjects and MethodZZWe retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 19 patients who selected BAHA and 9 patients who selected CROS HA to undergo rehabilitation of unilateral hearing loss. Preoperative pure tone air and bone conduction thresholds, BAHA-aided thresholds and CROS HA-aided thresholds were measured. Hearing in noise test (HINT) was measured with unaided and aided in signal to noise ratio 10 (signal 75 dB HL, noise 65 dBA). Bern Benefit in Single-Sided Deafness Questionnaire (BBSS) was evaluated for all patients to assess subjective satisfaction and also, daily device using time was investigated. ResultsZZThe aided pure tone audiometry was 44.58 dB HL, 42.71 dB HL for in BAHA and CROS HA, respectively, whereas the unaided PTA was 111.29, 103.28 dB HL for BAHA and CROS HA, respectively. The aided HINT was 63.03 and 64.06%, whereas the unaided HINT was 22.13% and 37.44% for BAHA and CROS, respectively. BBSS showed more satisfactory results with BAHA and CROS HA when compared unaided in all items. Daily using time did not correlate with the degree of satisfaction, better ear hearing levels or etiology. ConclusionZZIt was found that not only the preoperative BAHA rod test and HA trials but also the customized and detail counseling were needed for single sided deaf patients to use auditory rehabilitation devices frequently.

Clinical Factors Influencing the Trial and Purchase of Bilateral Microphones with Contralateral Routing of Signal in Patients with Asymmetric Sensorineural Hearing Loss

“…Even after an individual has elected to procure the hearing aid, the actual use of the device is still not guaranteed. In a previous Korean study, the daily usage time of BAHA or CROS hearing aids was not relevant to the patient satisfaction or the functional hearing level of the better-hearing ear [11]. The C maintenance rate of BiCROS use may also be improved by proper fitting and close follow-up [20].…”

“…Another strategy is to transfer sounds coming from the worse-hearing ear towards the better-hearing ear, thus overcoming the head shadow effect. This transfer of sound is possible through bone conduction (BC) systems and air conduction (AC) systems [7][8][9][10][11]. Transcranial BC of sound is achieved through surgically implanted bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) [12] or…”

Sound Localization in Adults: Correlation with Varying Pure Tone Averages

“…Single-sided deaf patients, for example, suffer much in localizing sound sources. To solve this difficulty of localizing due to insufficient binaural hearing, many devices such as, the bone anchored hearing aid, contralateral routing of signal hearing aid, and cochlear implant, were developed and have been widely used (Park et al, 2013;Seebacher et al, 2019).…”