title: New outcomes with auditory brainstem implants in NF2 patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine factors related to high levels of speech recognition in patients with the auditory brainstem implant (ABI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective case review.
  
  
  METHODS
  International multicenter data from hospitals and tertiary referral facilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) and bilateral vestibular schwannomas.
  
  
  METHODS
  ABIs were placed after the removal of vestibular schwannomas.
  
  
  METHODS
  Demographic and surgical data were collected from 26 patients with ABIs who achieved scores of better than 30% correct identification of sentences presented in quiet listening conditions and without lipreading cues.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Scores better than 30% speech recognition of standard sentence test materials (HINT or equivalent) in quiet listening conditions were obtained in 26 of the 84 NF2 patients (31%). ABI speech recognition was correlated with surgical position, length of deafness, the number of distinct pitch electrodes, perceptual levels, and ABI stimulation rate, but not correlated with tumor size, tumor stage, the number of electrodes used, or electrophysiological recordings. This paper presents the consensus opinion from a meeting of surgeons to compare outcomes across ABI surgical centers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The consensus opinion was that brainstem trauma is a primary factor in the variability of outcomes in NF2 patients. The significant co-factors in outcomes implied that ABI surgery should be accomplished with great care to minimize physical and venous trauma to the brainstem. It is clear that high levels of speech recognition, including high levels of open-set speech recognition, are possible with the ABI even in patients with NF2 and large tumors.
authors.affiliation: *Klinikum Fulda gAG, Academic Hospital of the University of Marburg, Fulda, Germany; †University of Verona, Verona, Italy; ‡University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany; §NTT Medical Center Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; ∥University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; ¶University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; and #Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Behr
authors.forename: Vittorio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Colletti
authors.forename: Cordula
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Matthies
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakatomi
authors.forename: Liguoro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dominique
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Darrouzet
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brill
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shehata-Dieler
authors.forename: Artur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lorens
authors.forename: Henryk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Skarzynski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D038263:Auditory Brain Stem Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D038262:Auditory Brain Stem Implants; D001307:Auditory Perception; D003638:Deafness / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008085:Lipreading; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016518:Neurofibromatosis 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D009464:Neuroma, Acoustic / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013067:Speech Perception; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult