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Auditory brainstem implant in postmeningitis totally ossified cochleae
Andréa Felice Dos Santos Malerbi1, Maria Valéria Schmidt Goffi-Gomez1, Robinson Koji Tsuji1
1a Department of Otolaryngology , Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil.
Acta Oto-Laryngologica
|April 3, 2018
Summary
Auditory brainstem implants (ABI) offer hearing rehabilitation for patients with ossified cochleae. This study shows ABIs improve hearing and speech perception in postmeningitis hearing loss cases.
Area of Science:
- Otolaryngology
- Neuroscience
- Audiology
Background:
- Auditory brainstem implants (ABI) provide an alternative for auditory rehabilitation.
- Ossified cochleae prevent conventional cochlear implant use.
- Postmeningitis hearing loss can lead to bilateral totally ossified cochleae.
Purpose of the Study:
- Evaluate audiometric and speech perception outcomes.
- Assess the extended retrolabyrinthine approach for ABI implantation.
- Focus on patients with postmeningitis hearing loss and ossified cochleae.
Main Methods:
- Ten patients (children and adults) with postmeningitis hearing loss and ossified cochleae received ABIs.
- The extended retrolabyrinthine approach was used for all implantations.
- Pure tonal averages and speech perception were compared pre- and post-ABI activation (≥12 months follow-up).
Main Results:
- 80% of patients showed improved tonal audiometry and speech perception.
- Two patients achieved 40% closed-set sentence recognition without lip-reading.
- Two patients had no auditory response post-implantation.
Conclusions:
- Auditory brainstem implantation significantly improved hearing performance in postmeningitis hearing loss.
- The extended retrolabyrinthine approach is a safe surgical option for this patient group.
- ABI offers a viable solution for hearing rehabilitation in complex cases.
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