gms | German Medical Science

56. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie e. V. (DGNC)
3èmes journées françaises de Neurochirurgie (SFNC)

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie e. V.
Société Française de Neurochirurgie

07. bis 11.05.2005, Strasbourg

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International cooperation for hearing rehabilitation with auditory brainstem implants: report of 90 personal cases

Internationale Kooperation zur Implantation von Hörprothesen am Nucleus cochlearis: Bericht über 90 eigene Fälle

Meeting Abstract

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  • corresponding author W.-P. Sollmann - Neurochirurgische Klinik, Städtisches Klinikum Braunschweig
  • R. Laszig - HNO-Klinik, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg
  • O. Sterkers - Service d`ORL, Hôpital Beaujon, Paris/F
  • A. Rey - Service de Neurochirurgie, Hôpital Beaujon, Paris/F
  • M. Kalamarides - Service de Neurochirurgie, Hôpital Beaujon, Paris/F

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie. Société Française de Neurochirurgie. 56. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie e.V. (DGNC), 3èmes journées françaises de Neurochirurgie (SFNC). Strasbourg, 07.-11.05.2005. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2005. Doc11.05.-15.03

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/dgnc2005/05dgnc0255.shtml

Published: May 4, 2005

© 2005 Sollmann 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

Text

Objective

Patients with bilateral hearing loss due to lesions of the cochlear nerve can be successfully treated with auditory brainstem implant (ABI). International cooperation, beginning between german and french centers, has proven to be extremely valuable in basic research, treatment strategies and overlooking a greater number of patients.

Methods

90 patients with bilateral vestibular schwannomas, ossified cochlea or axonal neuropathy have been treated with ABI between 1992 and 2004, using either the lateral suboccipital or translabyrinthine approach. Hearing rehabilitation was carried out in the local cochlear implant centers in 15 countries.

Results

Mean age was 33 years, tumor size varied between 1.0 and 6.0cm. Implantation of ABI was possible in 89 cases, 1 patient received the ABI in a second surgery during removal of the contralateral smaller tumor. Complications were only related to the surgery of major CPA-tumors and not to the ABI. 92% of the patients had hearing sensations in an average of 9.4 electrodes with discrimination of sounds, words and frequencies and improvement of lip reading, 6 were able to use the telephone.

Conclusions

ABI-surgery is safe with acceptable results, which are better in patients with no or small tumors and stable course of the NF2-disease. For the future, an extension of the indications to non-tumor cases like aplasia of the cochlear nerve is accepted by the cooperating european centers.