A recent issue of the European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, published by Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, features a pilot study on the effectiveness of the conventional CROS, the transcranial CROS, and the BAHA transcranial CROS in adults with unilateral inner ear deafness, says a statement from the publisher.
The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of three conventional contralateral routing of sound (CROS) hearing aids in adults with unilateral inner ear deafness. It included tertiary referral center.
Ten patients with unilateral inner ear deafness and normal hearing in the contralateral ear were chosen to evaluate three different methods of amplification: the CROS hearing aid, the completely in the canal hearing aid, and the bone-anchored hearing aid CROS (BAHA). Each of the three hearing aids was tried in a random order for a period of 8 weeks.
Audiometric performance, including speech-in-noise, directional hearing, and subjective benefit were measured after each trial period, using the APHAB, SSQ, and single-sided deafness questionnaire, says the statement. Mixed results were seen on the other patient outcome measures that alternated in favor of one of the three CROS devices.
Post-trial, three patients chose to be fitted with the BAHA CROS and one with the conventional CROS. The researchers concluded that most of the patients experienced some degree of benefit with each of the three hearing aids, and noted it would be worthwhile to formulate selection criteria, adding "still, we recommend that all patients with unilateral inner ear deafness should be offered a trial with at least the BAHA CROS."
[Source: Springer]
