Lateral Wall Electrodes Increase the Rate of Postactivation Nonauditory Percepts.

Abstract

To evaluate factors influencing the development of nonauditory percepts and facial nerve stimulation after cochlear implant (CI) activation. Retrospective cohort study. Tertiary referral center. Over the course of 5 years, 433 consecutive patients were evaluated for CI and 518 ears were implanted. Of those, 497 ears had information regarding CI activation. Lateral wall electrodes (LWE) or perimodiolar/mid-scalar electrodes (PME) were used during implantation. Nonauditory percepts and facial nerve stimulation after activation of CI. Among the 497 devices, which were activated at our institution, 357 (72%) had LWE while 140 (28%) patients had a PME. Of the patients with LWE, 49 (13.7%) patients experienced some form of nonauditory percept. In comparison, 11 (9.2%) patients with a PME had some form of nonauditory percept (p < 0.05). Among the patients who had an LWE, 33 (9.2%) patients had facial nerve stimulation compared with 6 (4.3%) patients with PME (p < 0.05). Additionally, there were 11 (2.2%) patients with incomplete insertion of the electrode who had a significant increase (p < 0.05) in facial nerve stimulation. The mean number of electrodes requiring programming modification to control symptoms was 2.9. The use of LWE and incomplete insertions significantly increase the rate of nonauditory percepts and FNS after activation of CIs. Otic capsule anomalies are an independent risk factor for both.