[Bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA): report of 2 cases]

In this first case report in Japan, we described 2 patients treated using a bone conductive hearing aid with skin-penetrating implant, or bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA). Both suffered from chronic otitis media and had received bilateral canal down tympanomastoidectomy. Case 1 was a 61-year-old woman with a conventional air conductive hearing aid in her right ear. There was no aural discharge in either ear. A pure-tone average showed 82.5 dBHL (air), 44.3 dBHL (bone) in the right ear and 93.8 dBHL (air), 48.8 dBHL (bone) in the left ear. Case 2 was a 38-year-old woman with a conventional hearing aid in her left ear, from which there was persistent aural discharge. A pure-tone average showed 48.8 dBHL(air), 15.0 dBHL (bone) in the right ear, and 60.0 dBHL(air), 20.0 dBHL(bone) in the left ear. Both underwent BAHA implant in the right ear without adverse reaction during 9 months of postoperative follow-up after surgery. No difference was seen in the aided hearing level or speech discrimination score between BAHA and air conduction hearing aids but both patients preferred to BAHA because of its greater comfort and audibility.