Radiological evaluation of inner ear trauma after cochlear implant surgery by cone beam CT(CBCT)

• Published in: European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology 2019-10, Vol.276 (10), p.2697-2703
• Main Authors: Abd El Aziz, Tougan Taha, El Fiky, Lobna, Shalaby, Mennatallah Hatem, Essam, Ahmed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Child; Child, Preschool; Cochlear Implantation - adverse effects; Cochlear Implantation - methods; Cochlear Implants; Ear, Inner - diagnostic imaging; Ear, Inner - injuries; Female; Head and Neck Surgery; Humans; Intraoperative Complications - diagnosis; Intraoperative Complications - etiology; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neurosurgery; Otology; Otorhinolaryngology; Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Prosthesis Design; Prosthesis Fitting - adverse effects; Prosthesis Fitting - methods; Spiral Cone-Beam Computed Tomography - methods
• ISSN: 0937-4477; 1434-4726
• DOI: 10.1007/s00405-019-05507-4

Purpose Cochlear implantation (CI) has been extended to involve younger age group with higher incidence of residual hearing which increases the need of minimizing surgical inner ear trauma. Radiological evaluation for electrode position has been studied yet without assessment of inner ear trauma, our objective is radiological evaluation of post cochlear implantation inner ear trauma Material and methods 20 patients with CI for pre lingual SNHL were included in this study. Cone beam CT (CBCT) was used for evaluation of electrode position and assessment of inner ear trauma. A Neuroradiologist and an implant surgeon analyzed the relation of inserted electrode to the intra-cochlear structures, with introduction of novel radiological grading for inner ear trauma. Results The mean major cochlear diameter was 8.9 mm, the mean angular depth of insertion was 406.9944 (SD = 165.0559). Ten patients were with no cochlear trauma (grade 0), three patients were grade 1, two patients were grade 2 and five patients were grade 3 inner ear trauma. Conclusion Radiological evaluation for electrode position should extend to involve assessment of inner ear trauma using relation of the implant to cochlear internal structures which could be performed by CBCT with high resolution and least metallic artifacts.