Cochlear implantation is widely used for patients with sensorineural hearing loss. However, patient response can vary; some experience very good speech recognition capability after implantation, while others have less favorable results than expected, said Dr. Nagy Naguib of Johann Wolfgang Goethe University.
As a result, the researchers sought to investigate factors that might affect implantation results. After previously assessing facial nerve size, the group turned its attention toward evaluating the volume of the cochlea.
The researchers performed 3D reconstructions of high-resolution MRI studies using an Advantage Workstation (GE Healthcare) on 36 patients who had long-term sensorineural hearing loss and had received unilateral cochlear implantation.
"We found that the preoperative volume of the inner ear and cochlea do not correlate with the speech recognition test, hence the variability in patient response following implantation is not related to the volume," Naguib told AuntMinnie.com. "In other words, cochlear implantation should also be offered to patients with small volume of the cochlea."
