Objective: To examine patient preference after stapedotomy versus cochlear implantation in a unique case of a patient with symmetrical profound mixed hearing loss and similar postoperative speech perception improvement.
Patients: An adult patient with bilateral symmetrical far advanced otosclerosis, with profound mixed hearing loss.
Intervention: Stapedotomy in the left ear, cochlear implantation in the right ear.
Main outcome measure: Performance on behavioral audiometry, and subjective report of hearing and intervention preference.
Results: A patient successfully underwent left stapedotomy and subsequent cochlear implantation on the right side, per patient preference. Preoperative audiometric characteristics were similar between ears (pure-tone average [PTA] [R: 114; L: 113 dB]; word recognition score [WRS]: 22%). Postprocedural audiometry demonstrated significant improvement after stapedotomy (PTA: 59 dB, WRS: 75%) and from cochlear implant (PTA: 20 dB, WRS: 60%). The patient subjectively reported a preference for the cochlear implant ear despite having substantial gains from stapedotomy. A nuanced discussion highlighting potentially overlooked benefits of cochlear implants in far advanced otosclerosis is conducted.
Conclusion: In comparison with stapedotomy and hearing aids, cochlear implantation generally permits greater access to sound among patients with far advanced otosclerosis. Though the cochlear implant literature mainly focuses on speech perception outcomes, an underappreciated benefit of cochlear implantation is the high likelihood of achieving "normal" sound levels across the audiogram.
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