Long-term follow-up of cochlear implant users with ossified cochlea

Objective: Cochlear implantation surgery in ossified cochlea is a challenge , even for the experienced otologist. Short-term assessments of auditory pe rception show that implantation in partial or even extensive ossified cochl ea could be achieved with varying success, but no long-term follow-up resul ts have been published yet. Design and Methods: This paper proposes a retrospective review of eight Nuc leus cochlear implant users with ossified cochlea who have been followed on a 12- to 60-month period. Main Outcome Measure: Auditory performances of users are reported at each c ontrol on a scale of 100 units divided into 4 skill zones of 25 units based on Erber's proposition, that is, detection, discrimination, identification , and recognition. Results: Three of the eight subjects showed some progression in their audit ory performances during the follow-up. The five other subjects showed no lo ng-term progress in their auditory performance. Conclusions: Open-set comprehension could be achieved with the insertion of 9 to 10 electrodes of the Nucleus device. Auditory performance in users wi th ossified cochlea seems to be influenced by the same factors as in users with patent cochlea.