Phd in INNOVATIVE BIOTECH SOLUTIONS FOR SENSORY ORGANS
DISEASES

Thesis title: RIABILITAZIONE UDITIVA DI TIPO CHIRURGICO NELLE SORDITA’ TRASMISSIVE DELL’ORECCHIO MEDIO

The retrospective study compared the main surgical auditory rehabilitation techniques in conductive hearing loss resulting from middle ear diseases, chronic otitis, discontinuity of the ossicular chain, otosclerosis by examining the traditional procedures of stapedoplasty, ossiculoplasty (PORP and TORP) performed in the first or second look and performed by autologous or synthetic materials, and the new BCI (bone conductive implant) prosthetic systems, Cochlear™ Osia System, as an alternative for patient not eligible for conventional surgery. Pre- and post-operative audiological threshold were analyzed to evaluate of the medium-term hearing gain series in a sample of patients undergoing these surgery procedures, in a single-center. Data collected confirm a significant improvement in the audiological outcome in patients treated in all surgical groups, with a statistically significant reduction in the average residual air-bone gap (18 dB) and better than the AAO-HNS recommendations. Therefore, middle ear surgery is a stone in the management of conductive deafness, the evolution of implantable devices such as Osia2 is indicated when neither traditional prosthesis nor surgical resolution is possible and allows to extend the rehabilitation effectiveness even to patients traditionally excluded from conventional treatment. The retrospective nature of the study and the limited follow-up of 6 months do not allow a complete assessment of the long-term stability of the results. Prospective studies, with larger samples and extended follow-up, will be able to better clarify the impact of prosthetic material on the duration of the hearing result and the role of surgical timing (first vs second look).