Cochlear implant outcomes in patients with Meniere’s disease: a large case series

Abstract

Objective:

To perform a matched cohort study to assess whether patients with Meniere's Disease (MD) require more intensive auditory rehabilitation following cochlear implantation (CI) and identify factors that may affect outcomes in patients with MD.

Methods:

A retrospective case review was performed. MD and control patients were matched for age, biological sex, implant manufacturer and electrode design. Outcomes measured were speech scores, number of visits to audiology department following switch-on, and post-operative active MD.

Results:

Forty consecutive implanted MD patients were identified between May 1993 and May 2019. Patients with active MD following CI required significantly more visits to the audiology department compared to controls (P < 0.01) and patients who had inactive MD post-operatively (P < 0.01). However, in MD patients, active MD was less likely following CI (P = 0.03). In patients who continued to experience active MD post-operatively, further medical and surgical ablative intervention was required to control ongoing Meniere's attacks.

Conclusion:

We present the largest case series of performance outcomes in CI patients with MD. Although speech outcomes in MD patients are comparable to controls, patients with active MD pre-operatively are more likely to experience variation in CI performance requiring a prolonged period of auditory rehabilitation compared to inactive preoperative MD.

Keywords:

• Meniere’s Disease
• Cochlear Implantation
• Impedances
• Hospital Visits
• Speech Scores

Disclaimer statements

Contributors None.

Conflicts of interest None.

Ethics approval None.

Additional information

Funding

None.

Notes on contributors

Hala Kanona

Hala Kanona is a Consultant in Otology and Auditory Implant surgery at The Royal National ENT Hospital, University College London Hospitals.

Cillian Forde

Cillian Forde is an ENT Registrar at The Royal National ENT Hospital, University College London Hospitals.

Anne M. Van Rooyen

Anne M. Van Rooyen Advanced Audiologist at The Royal National ENT Hospital, University College London Hospitals.

Peter Keating

Peter Keating is a UKRI Future leaders Fellow at University College Ear Institute.

Jane Bradley

Jane Bradley Advanced Audiologist and Audiological Scientist at The Royal National ENT Hospital, University College London Hospitals.

Alfonso Luca Pendolino

Alfonso Luca Pendolino is a Senior ENT Fellow at The Royal National ENT Hospital, University College London Hospitals.

Nishchay Mehta

Nischay Mehta is a Consultant in Otology and Auditory Implant surgery at The Royal National ENT Hospital, University College London Hospitals and Associate Professor at the National institute of Hearing Research and BRC Deafness and Hearing Health theme, Ear Institute, UCL.

Joseph G. Manjaly

Joseph G. Manjaly is a Consultant in Otology and Auditory Implant surgery at The Royal National ENT Hospital, University College London Hospitals.

Sherif Khalil

Sherif Khalil is a Consultant in Otology, Auditory Implants and Skull base surgery and the Clinical Lead for Auditory Implants at The Royal National ENT Hospital, University College London Hospitals.

Jeremy Lavy

Jeremy Lavy is a Consultant in Otology and Auditory Implant surgery at The Royal National ENT Hospital, University College London Hospitals.

Shakeel R. Saeed

Shakeel R. Saeed is a Professor of Otology/Neuro-otology and consultant in Auditory Implants and Skull Base surgery at The Royal National ENT Hospital, University College London Hospitals and University College Ear Institute.

Azhar Shaida

Azhar Shaida is a Consultant in Otology and Auditory Implant surgery at The Royal National ENT Hospital, University College London Hospitals.