Vestibular Schwannoma Resection with Ipsilateral Simultaneous Cochlear Implantation in Patients with Normal Contralateral Hearing.

OBJECTIVE

To report the hearing results of cochlear implantation simultaneous to vestibular schwannoma (VS) resection by means of a translabyrinthine approach in patients with normal contralateral hearing.

METHODS

This was a prospective study including adults with sporadic VS. Tumors were resected by means of a modified translabyrinthine approach with preservation of the cochlear nerve.

RESULTS

A total of 13 patients underwent cochlear implantation. At 14 months, the mean pure-tone audiogram was 56 dB. The mean speech recognition was 80%. Cochlear implantation provides monaural and binaural benefits in all the conditions tested, including sound localization.

CONCLUSIONS

Cochlear implantation can be safely performed simultaneously to VS resection with satisfactory hearing results provided that the cochlear nerve is anatomically intact.