Cochlear implantation of patients with far-advanced otosclerosis

This current single-subject, repeated-measures study was to describe our experience with 30 patients who had been diagnosed with "far-advanced otosclerosis" and who were included in our program of cochlear implants. We analyzed the history of the patients and their families before implantation, the surgical findings, and the performance over a follow up of 3 years.

All patients met one or more of the after criteria: 1) previous surgical intervention as a treatment of their otosclerosis; 2) signs of pericochlear hypodensities in high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans; and 3) family precedents of otosclerosis. All underwent standard surgical cochlear implantation.

In 78% of the cases, a stapedectomy had previously been realized. Cochlear otosclerosis could be appreciated in HRCT in 78% of the patients. A family history of otosclerosis was found in 40%, and 33.3% of patients had familial precedents of nonfilial hypoacusis. The mean results in the two-syllable test were 20% preimplantation, 54% 6 months after implantation, and 52%, 62%, 54% at 1, 2, and 3 years after implantation. In the CID sentence test, they were in the order of 32% preimplantation and of 64% at 6 months, 66% after 1 year, of 68% after 2 years, and reaching 72% after 3 years. No complications related to the surgery were detected.

Patients diagnosed with far-advanced otosclerosis have a good prognosis with cochlear implantation comparable to that of other patients in whom postlingual implants are performed.