Clinical performance of children following revision surgery for a cochlear implant.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the causes for revision surgery and to compare clinical performance before and after surgery in children who required electrode reinsertion. Soundfield thresholds and speech recognition scores were compared before device failure and following electrode reinsertion. Temporal bones from a deceased adult implant user who underwent bilateral revision implantation were analyzed. Histopathology in the adult temporal bones revealed new bone formation in the scala tympani and substantially reduced spiral ganglion counts, with open-set speech recognition realized. Of 28 children undergoing revision surgery, 18 required electrode reinsertion. With the exception of 1 patient with severe cochlear malformation, new electrode arrays were fully inserted without difficulty. Clinical outcomes between pre-device failure and post-electrode reinsertion did not differ statistically. Electrode reinsertion is technically feasible in the pediatric population. The majority of children recover their prerevision clinical performance. C-4.