engleski

First Auditory Brainstem Implant Operation in Our Cochlear Implantation Program

In recent years advance of technology led us to cochlear implants that tend to replace the non-functioning cochlea. A step further is an auditory brainstem implant (ABI) where cochlear nuclei are stimulated directly. Although it enables us to bypass the eighth nerve and the posible pathology, it confronts us with many new issues. Croatian Cochlear Implantation program was started right after the Slovenian one, but kept on developing slowly due to reduced financial possibilities. The first ABI operation in Croatia was performed at our Department in January 1999. The operation was performed in a deaf 28-year-old female patient who was diagnosed a bilateral acoustic neurinoma. Diagnostic procedure incorporated standard audiologic battery for sensorineural hearing loss, CT and MRI. The left side was operated on 4 years ago in other clinic using the suboccipital approach. The auditory brainstem implant surgery was performed on the "second side" using the same approach. It was an uneventful operation with good anatomy and serious postoperative complications. The patient is now performing exceptionally well, with up to 50% of words recognition in the opened set and 85% in the closed set, both without lip-reading. The authors present this rare and successful case one and a half year after the surgery, and show their experince in rehabilitation and good tolerance of the implanted device.

neurinoma acoustic; deafness; cochlear implants; brain stem; implants artificial

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