The management of hearing-impaired patients has taken a leap forward with the reimbursement of partially-implantable middle ear implants. Formerly, patients with neurosensory hearing loss (i.e., related to the destruction of the inner ear) could only benefit from hearing aids or cochlear implants provided they were totally deaf. Most of them were not satisfied with their hearing aids. Partially- or even fully-implantable middle ear implants were already available, but their costs were fully borne by the patient (between 10,000 and 18,000 euros approximately).
Key words
Sensori-neural hearing loss, partially implantable middle ear implant, fully implantable middle ear implant