Ricerc@Sapienza

Objectives: To evaluate long-term benefits of a totally implantable active middle ear implant (AMEI) that has been used in a single implanting center for over 10 years. Methods: Forty-one subjects who underwent implantation with an Esteem® AMEI during a 10-years period were evaluated on the auditory benefits, as derived from pure tone and speech audiometry tests. The analysis included a comparison with a conventional hearing aid, the problematics related to the battery duration and surgical replacement and, finally, the complication rate.

Objective: The aim of this article is to report on the long-term follow-up of a new semi-implantable middle ear device utilized for restoration of moderate-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss in a first series of subjects. Methods: Three subjects, affected by sensorineural hearing loss, have undergone implantation of Maxum® middle ear implant, via a transcanal approach. They all underwent an auditory assessment, paying particular attention on the pre- versus post-operative hearing levels under the unaided, best-fitted hearing aided and implant-aided conditions.

The active middle ear implant (AMEI) may be considered, in selected cases, a valid
alternative to conventional hearing aids (cHA) for rehabilitation of bilateral sensorineural
hearing loss (SNHL). The Esteem ® represents one of the two invisible solutions that can
be adopted at the present time, and it is the only one with FDA approval since 2010. Since
2007, at the Implanting Centre of the University Hospital Sant’Andrea in Rome, 43 sub-
jects underwent surgery for application of this device, after having ascertained by CT scan

Purpose: To evaluate the complication rate in adult subjects with open cavities, implanted with the Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) implant, using the round window (RW) vibroplasty procedure.
Methods: From 2010 to 2018, 21 adult subjects with mixed hearing loss, all with sequel from open tympanoplasty surgery, underwent RW vibroplasty. Surgical complications were recorded and a standard minimal approach was used as basis for all the cases that needed revision.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and performance of three novel vibroplasty couplers that allow attachment of the floating mass transducer of a transcutaneous active middle ear implant (AMEI) to the round window (RW) membrane, the long process (LP), or the incus body and the short process (SP) of the incus.