Feasibility of hearing preservation for residual hearing with longer cochlear implant electrodes

Abstract

Background: Hearing preservation is thought to be achievable following atraumatic surgery with thin cochlear implant electrodes; therefore, the surgical approach and implant electrode design are crucial considerations.

Objective: To assess the feasibility of hearing preservation with long electrodes for patients meeting the criteria for conventional cochlear implantation.

Methods: One hundred and two patients (132 ears) who underwent cochlear implant surgery were analyzed. Inclusion criteria included measurable residual hearing in the low frequency before implantation and not meeting the criteria for electric acoustic stimulation (EAS).

Results: Of the 18 patients with residual hearing in the low frequency enrolled, 17 subjects (94.4%) retained low frequency hearing. A younger age at surgery tended to contribute to better hearing preservation than that observed in older patients. There was no clear trend regarding the influence of insertion depth angle of the electrode on hearing preservation.

Conclusion: It is possible to achieve hearing preservation in the lower frequency by the use of longer electrodes. This study underscores the importance of atraumatic surgery, even for patients with only limited residual hearing, and longer electrodes should be adopted for EAS.

Chinese abstract

背景：听力保存被认为可以通过使用薄耳蜗植入电极进行无创伤手术来实现;因此, 手术方式和植入电极设计是至关重要的考虑因素。

目的：评估对于符合常规人工耳蜗植入标准的患者, 使用长电极来保存听力的可行性。

方法：对102例接受人工耳蜗植入手术的患者（132个耳）进行分析。入选标准包括植入前低频率可测残余听力, 以及不符合电声刺激（EAS）的标准。

结果：18例低频残余听力患者入选。总体而言, 17名受试者（94.4％）保留了低频听力。手术年龄较小的年龄往往比较大年龄更有助于提高听力保持率。电极的插入深度角对听力保持的影响不明显。

结论：通过使用更长的电极, 可以在较低频率下实现听力保持。该项研究强调, 应该认识到无创伤手术的重要性, 即使对于残余听力有限的患者也是如此。并且强调应采用更长的电极来进行电声刺激。

Keywords:

• Hearing loss
• cochlear implant
• hearing preservation
• longer electrode

Disclosure statement

No potential conflicts of interest were reported by the authors.