[Clinical Aspects of Cochlear Implantation in Meniere's Disease and After Labyrinthectomy]

Objective: Due to the natural aging and the loosened CI-implantation criteria more formerly operated Meniere's patients will be supplied with a cochlear implant. However, it raises the question whether an implantation in a previously treated ear is promising. Material and Methods: Based on 2 cases in which we have carried out a CI-implantation, one of them 10 years after transmastoidal labyrinthectomy, and based on the current literature we draw attention to problems and prospects of success. Discussion: Histological studies show only a small ossification of the cochlea after labyrinthectomy. Implanted Meniere's patients have a better speech intelligibility than other CI users. Attacks of rotatory vertigo with tinnitus and fluctuations of hearing after cochlear implantation in Meniere's patients are rare or they are too little described. Conclusion: There is a trend to perform a simultaneous labyrinthectomy and cochlea implantation in Meniere's patients with desabling vertigo which have not responded to drug treatment. A formerly performed transmastoidal labyrinthectomy is not a contraindication for a cochlear implantation.