COCHLEAR IMPLANT PROGRAMMING CRITERIA AFTER ADVANCED OTOSCLEROSIS

Method: In this retrospective study, 11 individuals after severe/profound hearing loss due to advanced otosclerosis were included in the study group; 11 individuals severe or profound hearing loss due to idiopathic reasons were included in the control group. All of the participants use cochlear implants at least one year. Cochlear implant programming parameters at the end of the one-year usage, impedance changes, pulse width/duration and stimulus rates were compared. Non-parametric tests were used for statistical analysis.

Results: The mean age was 47.2 in the study and 46.18 in the control group. The impedances on all electrodes were found to be statistically different (p=.045;p<.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups for the stimulus duration and rate (p>.05). Although the most comfortable loudness and threshold levels of the study group were higher than the control group, this difference was not statistically significant.

Discussion and Conclusion: It has been observed that individuals with otosclerosis have impedance variations due to otic capsule changes and these changes are obvious on the basal part. It is known that changes in impedances could affect the stimulus rate and duration, however in current study there was no statistically significant difference. The lack of significant difference could be related to the small number of cases involved in the study. The inadequate number of cases could be accepted as limitation of the study. Keywords : Advanced otosclerosis, cochlear implants, programming parameters