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Fourth International Symposium and Workshops: Objective Measures in Cochlear Implants

Medical University of Hannover

01.06. bis 04.06.2005, Hannover

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Postoperative electrical stapedius reflex: temporal development of reflex threshold in patients supplied with cochlear implant

Meeting Abstract

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  • corresponding author K. Stephan - Dept. of Hearing, Speech and Voice Disorders, Innsbruck Medical University
  • V. Koci - Dept. of Hearing, Speech and Voice Disorders, Innsbruck Medical University
  • K. Welzl-Müller - Dept. of Hearing, Speech and Voice Disorders, Innsbruck Medical University

Medical University of Hannover, Department of Otolaryngology. Fourth International Symposium and Workshops: Objective Measures in Cochlear Implants. Hannover, 01.-04.06.2005. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2005. Doc05omci044

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/omci2005/05omci044.shtml

Published: May 31, 2005

© 2005 Stephan et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

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Introduction

Postoperative stapedius reflex measurements are used by several research groups as objective method for the estimation of comfort levels in patients supplied with CI. In most cases, the fitting of the speech processor is directly based on reflex threshold (ESRT). The present study was performed in order to reduce the time needed for testing and to check, whether there exists a general trend of ESRT after some time of implant use.

Materials and Methods

ESRT was determined using a standardized testing procedure in children supplied with the COMBI40+ implant system. The automated test protocol, which was successfully applied for several years in our department, is based on acoustic impedance audiometry during electrical stimulation via the implant. Prior to single channel stimulation, as generally used for the fitting procedure, the patient was stimulated using a multichannel stimulation mode in order to check if ESRT testing could be done at the particular fitting session. Changes of ESRT over time were investigated at testing sessions in a period from about 40 days up to 5 years after implantation.

Results

Results show that ESRT fluctuates most within the first 6 months of implant use. After this time, a trend towards a stable channel dependence typical for each patient is observed. In all patients, ESRT for multichannel stimulation was below the corresponding mean ESRT values of single channel stimulation.

Conclusions

The temporal development for both modes was similar. A general trend of ESRT for all patients was not observed.