Early experience on a modern, thin cochlear implant family. A retrospective, international multicenter study

Rationale: Cochlear implantation is the most effective method of rehabilitation for patients with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. Binaural hearing forms the basis of the development of hearing-associated cortical networks in infants and toddlers, but simultaneous bilateral implantation is often postponed due to the demands of classical surgical methods, which are associated with large incisions and a deep bony well. Objective: The authors report on the use of a modern, thin implant type and the possibilities it provided to simplify the surgical technique. Methods and results: Recent models of the Cochlear™ Nucleus® implant family were studied in an international retrospective multi-center study: 6 otolaryngologists in 5 centers shared their experiences on 73 consecutively implanted, thin implants. The surgical incision could be made shorter than before and only shallow bony wells or none at all were created in 4 out of 5 centers. No complications occurred. Discussion: This study underlines that implants with thin electronics capsules enable a simplified, fast and safe implantation procedure that allows simultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation.