title: Stimulation of the cochlear nucleus with multichannel auditory brainstem implants and long-term results: Freiburg patients.
abstract: Since 1992 18 patients with bilateral retrocochlear deafness have been provided with a multichannel auditory brainstem implant (ABI). The surgical procedure implies tumour removal and ABI implantation in one stage. Most implantations were via the translabyrinthine approach. The long-term follow-up varied between nine and 80 months. In one case auditory perception could not be achieved and in a second case post-operative stimulation was not possible as the subject died due to lung emboli. In all the other cases auditory perception was achieved and only two subjects became non-users during the follow-up period. The presented long-term results suggest that deaf neurofibromatosis type 2 patients regain acoustic contact with the environment, enlarge their communication skills and improve their quality of life by using a multichannel auditory brainstem prosthesis.
authors.affiliation: ENT Department, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marangos
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stecker
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Sollmann
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Laszig
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017626:Cochlear Nucleus / Q000601:surgery*; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D005260:Female; D006313:Hearing Loss, Central / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008085:Lipreading; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016518:Neurofibromatosis 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D013067:Speech Perception; D016896:Treatment Outcome