[Treatment of total deafness. Indications for and results of the multi-electrode cochlear implant]

Most cases of total deafness are due to destruction of Corti's organ leaving some of the auditory nerve fibres untouched. When these fibres are electrically stimulated the patient may perceive sounds the pitch of which depends upon the location of the stimulated nerve-endings along the cochlea. An intracochlear electronic device with 12 electrodes implanted in different areas and driven from outside by a portable radiofrequency emitter provides the patient with new hearing and some speech intelligibility. After several months' training words and sentences can be recognized without having recourse to lip reading. Performances depend upon a variety of factors, many of which can be determined prior to implantation. The long-term results obtained in 54 totally deaf patients are reported.