Surgical anatomy of lateral recess in paediatric auditory brainstem implant patients and its clinical correlates including grades of flocculus.

Introduction: Auditory brainstem implant (ABI), a standard technique in treatment of profound sensorineural hearing loss in patients with neurofibromatosis 2, is now being increasingly employed in children with congenital bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, as in Michele's deformity. A detailed knowledge of the relevant surgical anatomy of the lateral recess and its anatomical landmarks including the flocculus, the choroid plexus and the root entry zones of facial-vestibulocochlear and glossopharyngeal-vagus nerve complexes and their anatomical variants is mandatory, as it is the conduit for electrode array placement. The placement of electrode may be eased or impeded by these variations.