The Viability of Percutaneous Bone-Anchored Hearing Systems in the HIV Population

Objective: To determine the viability of percutaneous bone-anchored hearing systems (BAHS), in terms of local soft tissue complications, in the HIV population. Study Design: Retrospective folder review. Setting: Two tertiary-level academic state hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa. Patients: Twenty patients, of which six (30%) were HIV-positive. All HIV-positive patients had CD4 counts greater than 200, and were on highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Intervention: Percutaneous BAHS implantation surgery was performed on all patients. Main Outcome Measure: Comparisons were made between HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients in terms of incidence of local soft tissue complications post-implantation. Results: Soft tissue complications occurred in 50% of patients, and most were easily managed with topical treatment. No significant differences were found when comparing incidence of local soft tissue complications between HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients (p = 0.314). Similarly, surgical technique did not influence soft tissue complication incidence (p = 0.143). Conclusions: No significant differences in incidence of local soft tissue complications after percutaneous BAHS implantation were found between HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients. In a resource-constrained country like South Africa, where cost and time management are vital, these results indicate that the use of percutaneous BAHS implantation is a viable option, even in HIV-positive patients.