title: Evaluation of the Digisonic® SP cochlear implant: patient outcomes and fixation system with titanium screws.
abstract: Cochlear implants have revolutionized the way patients affected by severe hearing loss experience the world. Neurelec developed a fixation system with two titanium screws that requires no skull bone drilling.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the outcomes and procedure-related details of a series of patients implanted with the Digisonic® SP cochlear implant.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study analyzed patients submitted to cochlear implant placement within a period of 18 months. All patients had postlingual hearing impairment. Data was collected from patient charts and standard questionnaires answered by the surgeons in charge of carrying out the procedures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The six patients offered the Digisonic® SP cochlear implants were operated by experienced surgeons. The procedures took 95 to 203 minutes (mean = 135') to be completed, which is less time than what has been described for other fixation approaches. No complications were recorded and hearing improvement was satisfactory.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Digisonic® SP cochlear implant developed by Neurelec offered good audiological results for adult patients, shorter surgery time, and no surgical or postoperative complications.
authors.affiliation: Disciplina de Otorrinolaringologia, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil. guimachadocarvalho@gmail.com
authors.forename: Guilherme Machado de
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Alexandre Caixeta
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.forename: Fabiana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Danieli
authors.forename: Lúcia Cristina Beltrame
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Onuki
authors.forename: Jorge Rizzato
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Paschoal
authors.forename: Walter Adriano
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Bianchini
authors.forename: Arthur Menino
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Castilho
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001863:Bone Screws; D019929:Cochlear Implantation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014025:Titanium; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014025:Titanium