[Vibrant Soundbridge®: An Alternative Hearing System for Preschool Children with Aural Atresia].

BACKGROUND: The audiological treatment of children with aural atresia makes high demands on physicians and acousticians. Conventional hearing systems are often not tolerated by children and therefore do not meet the needs of the early and efficient therapy of hearing disorders. Aim of the present study was the evaluation of the audiological functional gain in children with uni- and bilateral aural atresia provided with the middle ear implant Vibrant Soundbridge(®) (VSB(®)) below the age of 6 years as well as the analysis of parents' satisfaction assessed with questionnaires.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The VSB(®) was implanted in 16 children, 13 with unilateral and 3 with bilateral aural atresia, with the mean age of 2;11±1;6 years. 3 months after the first fitting of the audio processor, pure-tone audiometry via free field testing with and without the hearing system was performed. Furthermore, parents completed a standardized questionnaire to evaluate their satisfaction with the VSB(®) treatment quality. The questionnaire included items on the acceptance by children, handling, listening effort, behavior, satisfaction, quality of life, aesthetics, and the length of daily use.

RESULTS: The use of the VSB(®) resulted in a significantly improved hearing level: 20 dB on average (Z=- 3.06; p=0.002; n=12). The analysis of parents' questionnaire demonstrated high or very high satisfaction with VSB(®) in all subjects. Primarily, the length of daily use of the VSB(®) was significantly higher than that of the hearing system used before with 10.0±2.1 vs. 2.7±2.2 h per day (Z=- 3.06; p=0.002; n=14).

CONCLUSION: The VSB(®) presented a good alternative for audiological treatment of uni- and bilateral aural atresia at toddler and pre-school age.