A Multi-Institutional Analysis of Device Failures in a Recent Cochlear Implant Series.

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Cochlear implant device longevity is crucial for long-term auditory rehabilitation.
• Understanding device failure rates and patterns is essential for patient management and device development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the failure rates of Advanced Bionics (AB) HiRes Ultra and Ultra 3D initial version (V1) cochlear implant electrodes.
• To analyze device failures over time across multiple high-volume cochlear implant centers.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study involving patients who received AB HiRes Ultra and Ultra 3D (V1) devices.
• Data collected from four tertiary referral centers up to December 31, 2022.
• Analysis of failure rates, revision surgeries, and speech recognition scores.

Main Results:

• Over 7 years, 42.6% (205/483) of V1 devices failed, with institutional rates varying from 32% to 67%.
• Revision surgery was performed in 79% of failures, predominantly with AB devices.
• Most patients (89.8%) regained or exceeded prefailure speech performance after revision, with significant CNC score improvement.

Conclusions:

• Ongoing device failures with AB HiRes Ultra (V1) cochlear implants are confirmed across multiple centers.
• Significant inter-institutional variability exists in device failure rates and detection, potentially linked to imaging protocols.
• Reimplantation generally restores prefailure auditory performance, highlighting the importance of timely intervention.