Cochlear implant rehabilitation for patients with vestibular schwannoma: report of two cases

• Published in: Cochlear implants international Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 124 - 127
• Main Authors: Amoodi, Hosam A, Makki, Fawaz M, Cavanagh, Jonathan, Maessen, Heather, Bance, Manohar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.05.2012
• Subjects: Adult; Audiometry, Pure-Tone - methods; Cochlear Implantation - methods; Cochlear Implants; Combined Modality Therapy; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Hearing Loss, Bilateral - etiology; Hearing Loss, Bilateral - rehabilitation; Hearing Loss, Bilateral - surgery; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Middle Aged; Neuroma, Acoustic - complications; Neuroma, Acoustic - diagnosis; Neuroma, Acoustic - rehabilitation; Neuroma, Acoustic - surgery; Nova Scotia; Preoperative Care - methods; Radiosurgery - methods; Risk Assessment; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - methods; Treatment Outcome; Nova Scotia
• ISSN: 1467-0100; 1754-7628
• DOI: 10.1179/1754762810Y.0000000003

The objective of this paper is to highlight two main points. The primary aim is to demonstrate that cochlear implants can function in the presence of retrocochlear pathology, even after stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), and hence to introduce this as a management option in selected patients with retrocochlear pathology, such as Neurofibromatosis type II (NFII) patients. A secondary aim is to act as a caveat that computed tomography (CT) scanning alone may not be sufficient imaging in subjects undergoing cochlear implantation (CI). In this paper we report two patients who underwent cochlear implant despite the presence of a vestibular schwannoma (VS) on the same side. The first case is a 59-year-old male, diagnosed with VS after 9 months of good hearing with a cochlear implant. The second case is 26-year-old female known case of NFII, received a cochlear implant after controlling the tumor growth with a SRS. We show the consequences of missing important pre-implant pathology prior to CI in one case. In both cases, we add to the literature showing that cochlear implants can work well in the presence of VS, even in the presence of previous SRS. This adds significantly to the management options available to NFII patients, and the results seem to be better than those expected for auditory brainstem implant (ABI), and with a much simpler and safer intervention.