Abstract:Objective To analyze the improvement of auditory and speech recognition in patients with congenital external and middle ear malformation after bonebridge implantation, and to evaluate the subjective auditory benefits of bonebridge implantation.Methods Clinical data of 9 patients with congenital external middle ear malformation who underwent unilateral bonebridge implantation were retrospectively analyzed. The analyzed data included preoperative and postoperative hearing threshold, speech recognition threshold, and speech recognition rate. The subjective benefit of the patients after bonebridge implantation was assessed by using the speech spatial hearing quality scale for parents (SSQ-P) questionnaire and the speech comprehensibility rating (SIR) questionnaire.Results The hearing aid threshold, speech recognition threshold and speech recognition rate of the 9 patients were significantly improved after bonebridge implantation. The hearing aid threshold in the main frequencies (0.25~8 kHz) decreased by (31.1±12.7) dB, (43.9±21.5) dB, (53.3±14.1) dB, (45.0±12.2) dB, (45.0±15.2) dB, (42.2±19.1) dB, respectively, with an average decrease of (43.4±13.0) dB. The average speech recognition threshold decreased by (44.7±4.8) dB, the average monosyllabic speech recognition rate increased by (67.3±8.2)%, the average two-syllable speech recognition rate increased by (68.1±8.4)%, the average sentence speech recognition rate in quiet environment increased by (53.3±13.5)%, and the average sentence speech recognition rate in noisy environment increased by (49.6±11.0)%. The questionnaire results showed that the mean benefit score of SSQ-P was (4.6±0.7) and that of SIR was (1.4±0.4).Conclusion Some patients with congenital external and middle ear malformation receiving bonebridge implantation can obtain significant improvement in auditory and speech ability, effectively improving the subjective benefits in terms of speech, space, and hearing.