Cochlear implantation in malformed inner ear.
OBJECTIVE
Authors evaluate diagnosis, surgery and results in the implantees with malformed inner ear.


METHODS
Four children with the inner ear malformations were included in this series (one child with common cavity, two children with narrow internal auditory meatus and one child with lateral semicircular canal aplasia). CT and MRI were used for the imaging of inner ear malformations. Different types of implants (Medel Combi 40+, Nucleus Freedom) with different types of electrodes were used. The average time of being the cochlear implant user in the time of evaluation was 3 years.


RESULTS
Pure tone audiometry (PTA), Category of Auditory Performances (CAP), Evaluation of spontaneous speech and Evaluation of speech understanding were used to evaluate of the CI outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
Malformation of inner ear with the developed cochlear nerve nowadays is the indication for CI. Councelling with parents must be open and detailed to inform them on realistic expectations and different ways of deaf child education (Tab. 4, Fig. 4, Ref. 13). Full Text (Free, PDF) www.bmj.sk.
Kabatova
Z
Z
University ORL Dept, Medical School of Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Profant
M
M
Simkova
L
L
Groma
M
M
Nechojdomova
D
D
D002675:Child, Preschool; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D007758:Ear, Inner / Q000002:abnormalities*; D005260:Female; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013065:Speech Intelligibility