Cochlear device explantation in patients with nasopharyngeal cancer irradiation.

OBJECTIVES

Cochlear implantation (CI) is feasible for hearing rehabilitation in post-irradiated patients with profound sensorineural hearing loss. Complication especially explantation in patient with history of irradiation is a concern. The study aimed to investigate the incidence and cause of cochlear device explantation in between nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC)-related irradiation when compare with adults without.

METHODS

This was a retrospective multicentre case-control study, which conducted on adults who underwent CI between 1994 and 2024. The rate, reasons and time after implantation of cochlear device explantation, and reimplantation rate were compared.

RESULTS

A total of 1067 ears (122 ears of NPC and 945 ears of non-NPC) were included in the study. The explantation rate was significantly higher in NPC group with a percentage of 7.38% compared with 2.01% in non-NPC group (p < 0.001, OR = 3.908). There was no significant difference between the groups regarding the causes of explantation (p > 0.05). Among all the infected ears, 50% of them were infected by skin bacteria.

CONCLUSIONS

This multicenter study presents regional data on post- CI explantation in patients with NPC after radiotherapy. While explantation rates were four times higher in the NPC group, no single definitive cause beyond prior radiation exposure could be identified.