[A case of revision of a cochlear implant]

The patient was a 41-year-old man who lost his hearing on the left at 7 years of age and on the right at 34 years of age due to meningitis. At 35 years of age a single-channel cochlear implant, 3M/House design, was implanted. Five years after the initial operation, the single-channel prosthesis was replaced by a multichannel device (Cochlear Corp.) because of the patients earnest wish to obtain better hearing. Explanation of the short electrode of the single-channel device was easy, but reimplantation of the longer electrode of multichannel device was somewhat difficult, probably because of the presence of the peri-implant fibro-osseous cuff in the Scala tympani. Single-channel and those of the multichannel speech data were compared in relation to performance in the same individual. The reimplanted multichannel device was equivalent to or outperformed the original 3M prosthesis. The patient preferred the hearing afforded by the multichannel device.