gms | German Medical Science

In different medical situations, but because of an early diagnosis getting less and less, patients with an ossified are supplied with a so-called double array-electrode; which is a split up one. The supply can be carried out both, in a simultaneous bilateral, unilateral, sequential way, as well as in a way that uses unilateral double array-supply on one side and a standard electrode on the opposite side. The necessity of making use of double- array-electrode results from each individual medical history that often goes dramatic. A special interest lies in the patients who were first supplied with a unilateral standard electrode, as at their time of the operation no double array-supply was available, when the contralateral ear showed an extreme ossification. Because of the position of the electrodes, it is significant to check after the bilateral supply, whether the patients with asymmetrical supply could reach a good speech understanding, especially in noise. From the surgical and medical point of view respectively, the attention has to be directed to the patients´ amount of complications that might occur after the operation, especially the irritation of the facials. In the present retrospective analysis 40 patients were observed, 15 of whom were children. Compared to a conventional implantation, the supply with a double array-electrode did not show a higher amount of complications. There could be implanted up to 12 contacts in all patients. In the following discussion of the results, the data of different groups of patients are presented.

In summary it can be seen from the results that a double array-implantation, and a sequential bilateral one as well, means a clear advantage to the patients, especially in localisation.