Clarion cochlear implants: surgical implications

The surgical aspects of 34 Clarion cochlear implants, positioned during a five-year period on 31 profoundly-deaf subjects as primary (11 children, 20 adults) and revision surgery (one child, three adults) were taken into consideration. Intra- and post-operative complications related to the specific structure of this device were considered along with the benefits obtained by update of the hardware and surgical approach. A smaller thickness of the internal receiver as well as the shifting from a retro-auricular/sub-temporal (RA-ST) to an endaural-retromastoid (EA-RM) approach have contributed to a dramatic drop in post-operative complications, such as skin defect or device extrusion. Special care should, however, be taken when cochlear implantation is planned in ears with chronic otitis or its surgical sequelae. From the two revised cases (hardware failure, electrode displacement) in whom re-implantation in the same side was performed, it has been demonstrated that the helicoidal shape of the electrode carrier is not inducing any additional trauma to the cochlear structure.