Hearing Preservation After Complete Cochlear Coverage in Cochlear Implantation With the Free-Fitting FLEXSOFT Electrode Carrier
- 1 August 2011
- journal article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Otology & Neurotology
- Vol. 32 (6), 973-979
- https://doi.org/10.1097/mao.0b013e31822558c4
Abstract
To demonstrate the possibility of atraumatic insertion with the free-fitting FLEX electrode by evaluating the degree of hearing preservation postoperatively. Retrospective study. Academic tertiary care center. Twenty-two severely to profoundly hearing impaired subjects with measurable residual hearing preoperatively. Atraumatic implantation with the 31.5-mm-long, free-fitting, and highly flexible FLEX electrode using either the round window approach or a cochleostomy technique. Subjects were tested preoperatively in unaided condition and at varying intervals postoperatively. Preoperative and postoperative low-frequency pure-tone average (PTA) and PTA shifts were calculated. Speech perception was measured preoperatively and postoperatively using the Freiburger monosyllabic word test in quiet. Preoperative low-frequency hearing could be preserved to a certain degree in 77.3% of subjects (17/22) after insertion of the FLEX electrode up to the point of first resistance. Complete loss of residual hearing was observed in 22.7% of subjects (5/22). In 18.2% of the subjects (4/22), the preoperative PTA was preserved within 10 dB. Pure-tone average results between preoperative and most recent testing showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.001 to p = 0.031) for almost all loudness levels ranging from 125 Hz to 1.5 kHz. The maximum threshold shift was 40 dB at 250 Hz for the lower frequencies up to 1 kHz. Monosyllable testing in quiet demonstrated significant improvement over time (p < 0.001). This study showed that preservation of residual hearing is possible in a high number of subjects when a flexible electrode and atraumatic surgical techniques are used.Keywords
This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- Residual Hearing Preservation After Pediatric Cochlear ImplantationOtology & Neurotology, 2010
- Electric acoustic stimulation of the auditory system: experience and results of ten patients using MED‐EL’s M and FlexEAS electrodesClinical Otolaryngology, 2010
- Partial Deafness Cochlear Implantation at the University of Kansas: Techniques and OutcomesJournal of the American Academy of Audiology, 2010
- Development and Regeneration of the Inner EarAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2009
- Impact of Low-Frequency HearingAudiology and Neurotology, 2009
- Effect of Preoperative Residual Hearing on Speech Perception After Cochlear ImplantationThe Laryngoscope, 2008
- Acoustic plus Electric Speech Processing: Preliminary Results of a Multicenter Clinical Trial of the Iowa/Nucleus Hybrid ImplantAudiology and Neurotology, 2006
- Music Perception with Cochlear Implants and Residual HearingAudiology and Neurotology, 2006
- Speech Discrimination Scores of Postlingually Deaf Adults Implanted with the Combi 40 Cochlear ImplantActa Oto-Laryngologica, 1998
- Evaluation of five different cochlear implant designs: Audiologic assessment and predictors of performanceThe Laryngoscope, 1988