Dexamethasone eluting electrodes for cochlear implantation: Effect on residual hearing.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare a cochlear implant electrode array loaded with dexamethasone (DXM) with a conventional passive electrode array for the preservation of residual hearing in gerbils.

Methods: Thirty Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) were implanted with an eluting electrode loaded with DXM (1 and 10%) on one side and a conventional passive electrode on the other side. Hearing thresholds were determined by tone bursts auditory brainstem responses at 4-6 weeks post-implantation and 1-year post-implantation for older gerbils.

Factors affecting auditory performance of postlinguistically deaf adults using cochlear implants: an update with 2251 patients.

Objective: To update a 15-year-old study of 800 postlinguistically deaf adult patients showing how duration of severe to profound hearing loss, age at cochlear implantation (CI), age at onset of severe to profound hearing loss, etiology and CI experience affected CI outcome.

Study Design: Retrospective multicenter study.

Methods: Data from 2251 adult patients implanted since 2003 in 15 international centers were collected and speech scores in quiet were converted to percentile ranks to remove differences between centers.