gms | German Medical Science

Introduction: Preservation of residual hearing in Cochlea Implant surgery gains increasing interest in the last years. In ideal cases in such surgery no trauma to the cochlear structures should happen. Besides hearing, in cochlea implant surgery the vestibular organ ist also compromised. Numerous authors reported about vestibular losses up to 10% in conventional cochlea implant surgery. We investigated the percentage of vestibular losses in cochlea implant patients with the hearing-preserving Nucleus Hybrid L Cochlear Implant.

Methods and material: We investigated all patients who received a Nucleus Hybrid L Cochlear Implant in our department. It was a number of 67 patients up to the deadline 09-30-2009. Each patients was investigated with classic and caloric vestibular organ testing.

Results: 67 patients were investigated. 48 of them reached our department in the study period (Oct. 2005–Sept.2009) for regular postoperative control examinations. In 42 of them classic and caloric vestibular examination was performed; in the remaining cases patients either refused examination (3 cases) or the examination was not undertaken because of other reasons (3 cases). The results from the caloric vestibular examination were looked at in our study; results of classic vestibular examination were considered subsidiary. No one of the examined 42 patients has a vestibular loss.

Summary:

• The Nucleus Hybrid L Cochlear Implant seems to cause no damage to the vestibular organ, adequate operative technique presumed.
• In comparision with the frequency of vestibular losses reported in the literature, Hybrid L seems more safe to the vestibular organ than conventional cochlear implants.
• In case of cochlea implant operation in ears with “last vestibular organ” use of Hybrid L-Implants therefore should be discussed.