[Audiological aspects of rehabilitation after cochlear implantation in patients with inner ear malformations].

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of the rehabilitation stage of cochlear implantation in patients with inner ear abnormalities. It provides a detailed analysis of the audiological characteristics of such patients and draws conclusions about approaches to interpreting diagnostic data and speech processors fitting.

Material and methods: The track records of 80 patients with abnormalities of the inner ear development were retrospectively studied, of which 10 had abnormal structure of the auditory nerve. At the surgical and rehabilitation stages, patients underwent analysis of the results of implant telemetry, neural response telemetry, speech processor fitting maps, and the results of subjective audiological testing. The results were compared with those of 50 patients (control group) with normal inner ear anatomy and congenital deafness etiology.

Results: The resistance figures of the electrode circuit in patients with abnormalities of the inner ear and normal anatomy did not differ statistically significantly (T=0.86, p>0.05). The ability to register the eCAP turned out to be significantly lower in patients with cochlear malformations and had a pattern with the degree of pathological development of the organ (T=10.2; p<0.05). The distinctive features of the fitting maps of speech processors in different groups were also revealed, as well as the results of audiological testing.

Conclusions: Patients with abnormalities in the development of the inner ear have distinctive electrophysiological characteristics that are important during the rehabilitation stage of cochlear transplantation. When configuring speech processors, it makes sense to resort to using CIS coding strategies, reducing the dynamic range by increasing the minimum stimulation threshold, and increasing compression.