Labyrinthine Ossification Following Meningitis and Its Implications for Cochlear Implantation

Abstract

At the 1989 spring meeting of the American Neurootology Society in San Francisco, Calif, Michael A. Novak, MD, Robert C. Fifer, PhD, and Joseph C. Barkmeier, MD, Carle Clinic, Urbana, Ill, discussed the problem of labyrinthitis ossificans and its implications for cochlear implantation. The temporal course of labyrinthine ossification after meningitis is unclear, but, in two pediatric cases, using computed tomographic scanning techniques, the authors were able to identify haziness of the basal turn of the cochlea (suggesting fibrosis and/or ossification) as early as 4 and 5 months, respectively, after the illness. Surgery was performed in the former case within 1 month of the scan, but ossification of the cochlea permitted insertion of only eight electrodes of the nucleus device. If long intercochlear electrode arrays are to be used, it is critical that impending ossification be identified as early as possible. The authors, therefore, recommend obtaining a computed tomographic scan