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Assessing cochlear evoked potentials after electrocautery-induced trauma to the utricle
Francisco Carlos Zuma e Maia1, Alexandre Dolganov, Luiz Lavinsky
1Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Unlabelled:
Utriculostomy is a new surgical alternative for Ménière's disease. The basis of this procedure is that the outcome of an electrocautery-induced utricular trauma does not affect cochlear function. However, a demonstration of the hypothesis that this approach to the utricle would preserve hearing is still pending.
Objective:
To determine whether any changes would occur in the electrical potentials evoked in the cochlea and auditory nerve before, during, and 1 month after a surgical procedure in the utricule in an animal model.
Materials And Methods:
An experimental study. Eight sheep underwent electrocautery-induced utricular trauma, and their cochlear function was assessed by electrocochleography--recording of electrical evoked potentials, in the preoperative, immediate postoperative and medium-term postoperative periods. The results were analyzed statistically.
Results:
There were no statistically significant variations in amplitude (p = 0.099) and latency (p = 0.591) before and 1 month after the surgical procedure. There was a statistically significant change in the summation of the potential/action potential area ratio (p = 0.0122), a calculated loss of 11.8 dB.
Conclusion:
The intervention performed in this study enabled us to conclude that, taking into account the impaired electrophysiological responses observed during and 1 month after the surgical procedure, hearing was preserved in the operated sheep.
