Auditory Rehabilitation with Cochlear Implants, Auditory Brainstem Implants and Auditory Midbrain Implants—A New Field for the Skull Base Surgeon

Abstract

Auditory rehabilitation can be achieved with an auditory brainstem implant in patients with bilaterally missing or damaged auditory nerve. Since 1995, 28 patients suffering from neurofibromatosis type 2 or ossified cochlea have been selected out of a group of more than 300 patients fulfilling the following criteria: duration of deafness less than 10 years, otherwise healthy, high motivation, tumor removal possible. Objective audiometry and the electrical promontory test performed preoperatively must show neural deafness.