Patients and Follow-up
deafness, hearing implant
Of the 72 patients from the original trials (with 42 trial 1 and 30 trial 2 patients), 51 patients attended the 10-year follow-up. Twenty-one patients did or could not attend the 10-year follow-up because they were deceased (n = 2), lost the implant (n = 6), underwent explantation of the implant (n = 1) or removal of the abutment (n = 1), underwent replacement of the abutment (n = 2), were unreachable (n = 2), or were not able or willing to visit the clinic physically (n = 7). Only one nondeceased patient (group B), who visited the clinic 8 years after implantation for the last time (with the implant in situ), was unreachable.As described earlier, groups A and B were compared in the previous trial 1, and groups B and C were compared in the previous trial 2. Group A, the patients who received a control implant that was loaded 6 weeks after surgery, consisted of 7 patients; group B, the patients who received a test implant that was loaded 6 weeks after surgery, consisted of 23 patients; and group C, the patients who received a test implant that was loaded 3 weeks after surgery, consisted of 21 patients. The patients who underwent removal or replacement of the abutment, or could not attend the physical visits, were included in the implant survival population but excluded in the other follow-up analyses. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between study groups (Table 
Baseline characteristics
BAHI indicates bone-anchored hearing implant; SD, standard deviation; SSD, single-sided deafness.