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Updated: Jan 2, 2026
Author Spotlight: Optimizing EAS with Long Electrodes for Enhanced Cochlear Coverage and Hearing Preservation
Published on: October 11, 2024
Hearing Preservation and Speech Outcomes After Cochlear Implantation in Meniere's Disease
Maheer M Masood1,2, Douglas R Farquhar1, Kevin D Brown1
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Objectives/Hypothesis:
To evaluate speech perception outcomes and hearing preservation after cochlear implantation in patients with Meniere's disease (MD).
Study Design:
Retrospective chart review.
Methods:
Fifty-one adult patients, accounting for a total of 63 implants, with MD treated at a tertiary care center were included in the study. Patients with unaided preoperative air-conduction thresholds ≤80 dB at 250 Hz were included in hearing preservation analyses. The primary outcome measure was Consonant-Nucleus-Consonant (CNC) score. Hearing preservation was assessed as follows: 1) maintenance of functional hearing, defined as a postoperative unaided air-conduction threshold ≤80 dB at 250 Hz and 2) low-frequency pure-tone average (LFPTA) shift.
Results:
Speech perception scores improved significantly postimplantation; specifically, the CNC mean score was 9% preoperatively and increased to 57% by 1 year postoperatively (P < .001). Eighteen ears were included in hearing preservation analysis; the mean preoperative LFPTA was 65 dB (standard deviation [SD] = 10). The mean postoperative LFPTA at activation was 93 dB (SD = 21), and at 1 year was 102 dB (SD = 11). Twenty-seven percent of patients achieved short-term functional hearing preservation, whereas the longer-term outcomes were less favorable (11%).
Conclusions:
Speech perception scores improve after implantation in patients with MD. Hearing preservation is possible in patients with MD, albeit at lower rates than reported non-MD populations. Our data suggest that there can be degradation in acoustic hearing over time.
Level Of Evidence:
4 Laryngoscope, 2019.
