E. Vartiainen et J. Vartiainen, THE EFFECT OF PREOPERATIVE BONE CONDUCTION THRESHOLD LEVELS ON THE RESULTS OF STONES SURGERY, European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology, 252(8), 1995, pp. 459-461
The effect of preoperative bone conduction (BC) threshold levels, on t
he results of stapedectomy was evaluated in 378 adult patients with ot
osclerosis. The mean follow-up period was 8.8 years. Both short-term a
nd long-term postoperative hearing levels were found to be significant
ly dependent on preoperative BC levels. Only 2 of 31 patients (7%) wit
h preoperative BC thresholds > 40 dB had postoperative hearing levels
of 30 dB or betterl However, hearing still improved by greater than or
equal to 21 dB as often in patients with elevated preoperative BC thr
esholds as in patients with normal BC thresholds. These findings suppo
rt the use of stapes surgery being worthwhile even in patients with hi
ghly elevated BC thresholds.