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Updated: Oct 16, 2025
Robotic Cochlear Implantation for Direct Cochlear Access
Published on: June 16, 2022
Cochlear implantation of a patient with multiple sclerosis: case report and systematic review
J Routila1,2, J O Karhu3, J Salonen1,2
1Department of Audiology, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
Background:
Cochlear implantation can be used when a patient's hearing cannot satisfactorily be improved after optimised hearing aid fitting. However, in patients with a cochlear nerve or brain disorder affecting hearing, the benefits of cochlear implants are not so straightforward.
Methods:
This paper describes a 58-year-old patient suffering from multiple sclerosis and profound sensorineural hearing loss, rehabilitated with a cochlear implant. Literature concerning cochlear implantation in demyelinating conditions was systematically reviewed using PubMed/Medline and Web of Science databases.
Results:
The patient's cochlear implantation was successful, with speech discrimination scores remaining above 90 per cent for eight years post-operatively. No previous cases of cochlear implantation with multiple sclerosis related hearing loss have been reported, despite the high incidence of hearing loss in multiple sclerosis patients.
Conclusion:
This paper demonstrates that multiple sclerosis lesions should not be an exclusion criterion in an otherwise suitable candidate for cochlear implantation.
