gms | German Medical Science

Introduction: A 72 year-old patient with progressive sensorineural hearing loss underwent cochlear implant surgery in our tertiary referral university hospital. Following an unremarkable postoperative period, the patient presented 5 weeks later for the initial rehabilitation and fitting process. The patient reported differing impressions in the quality of hearing with changes in head position.

Methods: An intensive diagnostic examination of the device’s telemetry in varying head positions with subsequent explantation and reimplantation of the device.

Results: The telemetry yielded differing impedance values during flexion and extension of the neck. Based on this information, a technical defect in the implant was suspected. A revision operation was carried out in which the implant was replaced with a new device of the same model. During the subsequent rehabilitation and fitting process significantly improved speech comprehension was recorded, with the patient reporting stable quality of hearing. Post-explantation examination of the device revealed a defect in the electrode.

Conclusion: Unusual reports from patients are an intersting and not uncommon scenario for physicians. In this case, careful diagnostics yielded an excellent result for the patient.