THE REHABILITATION OF CONDUCTIVE HEARING IMPAIRMENT

Conductive hearing loss (CHL) usually is amenable to surgical correcti on. At times, patients with CHL may not be candidates for surgical cor rection, or they may refuse to undergo the procedure. In such a situat ion, the patient should be encouraged to try hearing aids, either conv entional or bone conduction, depending on the pathologic condition. Af ter a discussion of bone-conduction implantable hearing aids, the arti cle discusses congenital aural atresia, otosclerosis, and the manageme nt of CHL after infratemporal fossa approach and transtemporal approac hes.