Voltage matrix algorithm for intraoperative detection of cochlear implant electrode misplacement.

Objective To develop an algorithm, based on the voltage matrix, for detecting regular cochlear implant (CI) electrode position during the implantation procedure, tip fold-over or basal kinking for lateral-wall electrodes. The availability of an algorithm would be valuable in clinical routine, as incorrect positioning of the electrode array can potentially be recognized intraoperatively. Design In this retrospective study intraoperative voltage matrix and postoperative digital volume tomography of 525 CI recipients were analyzed.

Prospective study of the application of a 3D exoscope system (VITOM 3D) in ear surgery compared to conventional surgical microscopes: part I - analysis of objective parameters.

Background: This prospective study compared the application of a 3D exoscope (VITOM 3D) with surgical microscopes (SM) in ear surgery.

Methods: 62 patients were included (exoscope group (E+) n = 31; SM group (E-) n = 31). Procedures included cochlea implantation (nE + = 10, nE- = 10), reconstructive middle ear surgery due to chronic otitis media with (COMwC; nE + = 11, nE- = 11) and without cholesteatoma (COMsC; nE + = 10, nE- = 10).

Post-COVID-19-pandemic changes and clinical characteristics of invasive group a streptococcal infections from 2015 to 2023.

Purpose: Since winter 2022, invasive GAS (iGAS) infections have re-emerged in Europe, causing severe diseases in children and adults. We aimed to examine whether this reported post-pandemic increase was associated with an increased disease severity and/or a shift in clinical disease phenotypes.

Methods: We performed detailed clinical phenotyping of patients hospitalized with iGAS infections at a 1410-bed tertiary German Medical Center from 01/2015 to 09/2023.

Conventional one-handed compared to two-handed endoscopic ear surgery using an endoscope holder: a single center study.

Introduction: One-handedness is a challenge in conventional endoscopic ear surgery (EES). We present results on the first-ever application of the passive endoscope holder 'Endofix exo' (Co. AKTORmed GmbH, Neutraubling, Germany) in EES, which enables two-handed surgery.

The German cochlear implant registry: one year experience and first results on demographic data.

Purpose: Clinical registries have great potential for quality control of medical procedures regarding the indications, therapeutic processes and results, including their possible complications. This is particularly true when providing patients with severe hearing loss or deafness with a cochlear implant (CI). This treatment represents a lifelong care process that requires continuous quality control over time.

[The EEG N400 component as a marker of language acquisition and processing in cochlear implant users].

Language processing can be measured objectively using late components in the evoked brain potential. The most established component in this area of research is the N400 component, a negativity that peaks at about 400 ms after stimulus onset with a centro-parietal maximum. It reflects semantic processing.

Influence of cochlear implantation on the working ability of hearing-impaired patients: A prospective study on potential influencing factors.

Purpose: This study evaluates the effect of cochlear implantation (CI) on work ability. The influences of quality of life (QOL), age, mental health, and hearing were analyzed.

Methods: Seventy-nine patients undergoing CI surgery were evaluated preoperatively and 12 months postoperatively.

Visualization of bone formation in sheep's middle ear by using fluorochrome sequential labelling (FSL).

One factor for the lacking integration of the middle ear stapes footplate prosthesis or the missing healing of stapes footplate fractures could be the known osteogenic inactivity. In contrast, it was recently demonstrated that titanium prostheses with an applied collagen matrix and immobilised growth factors stimulate osteoblastic activation and differentiation on the stapes footplate. Regarding those findings, the aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of bone regeneration including bone remodeling in the middle ear.

In Vivo Thickness of the Healthy Tympanic Membrane Determined by Optical Coherence Tomography.

Objective: Tympanic membrane (TM) thickness is an important parameter for differentiation between a healthy and a pathologic TM. Furthermore, it is needed for modeling the middle ear function. Endoscopic optical coherence tomography (eOCT) provides the opportunity to measure the TM thickness of the entire TM in vivo.

Word Recognition with a Cochlear Implant in Relation to Prediction and Electrode Position.

Background: the word recognition score (WRS) achieved with cochlear implants (CIs) varies widely. To account for this, a predictive model was developed based on patients' age and their pre-operative WRS. This retrospective study aimed to find out whether the insertion depth of the nucleus lateral-wall electrode arrays contributes to the deviation of the CI-achieved WRS from the predicted WRS.

Influence of depressive disorders, stress, and personality traits on quality of life after cochlear implantation.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine whether preoperative depressiveness, stress, and personality influence quality of life (QOL) after cochlear implant (CI) surgery.

Methods: In this prospective study, 79 patients undergoing CI surgery were evaluated preoperatively and 12 months postoperatively. Disease-specific QOL was assessed with the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (NCIQ) and general QOL with the WHOQOL-BREF.

[Chronic mesotympanic Otitis media - Part 2: Surgical Therapy].

Chronic mesotympanal otitis media (CMOM) is a well-developed clinical presentation that is established in diagnostics and therapy. On closer inspection, however, this principle cannot be confirmed in all its facets. Already the physiology and pathophysiology of the middle ear mucosa leave questions unanswered, starting with the distribution of the ciliated epithelium in the middle ear and mastoid to the function of gas exchange.

Validation of the German language version of the Chronic Ear Survey and its psychometric comparison with an established German measurement instrument.

Background: With the Chronic Ear Survey (CES), a validated measurement instrument for the assessment of disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has been available internationally since 2000. The aim of this study was to provide a validated German version of this international instrument and to compare it with the German Chronic Otitis Media Outcome Test 15 (COMOT-15).

Methodology: The CES was translated into German via a forward-backward translation process.

Stapedius reflex thresholds obtained in a free sound field as an indicator for over- and understimulation in cochlear implant listeners.

Objective: The goal of this study was to determine open field stapedius reflex thresholds (oSRTs) in CI patients with fittings based on subjective loudness ratings. A further objective was to compare these oSRTs and those of eSRT-based fittings that are similar to the oSRTs of normal hearing.

Design: Impedance measurements of the ear drum were taken while subjects were wearing their audio processors.

Value of patient-reported outcome measures for evaluating the benefit of speech processor upgrading in patients with cochlear implants.

Background: Patients with a cochlear implant (CI) should be evaluated for a new speech processor every 6 years. The aim of this analysis was to assess the subjective and audiological benefit of upgrades.

Methods: Speech understanding and subjective benefit were analyzed in 99 patients with the old and the new speech processor after 4 weeks of wearing.

[Validation of the German language version of the Chronic Ear Survey and its psychometric comparison with an established German language measurement instrument. German version].

Background: With the Chronic Ear Survey (CES), a validated measurement instrument for the assessment of disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has been available internationally since 2000. The aim of this study was to provide a validated German version of this international instrument and to compare it with the German Chronic Otitis Media Outcome Test 15 (COMOT-15).

Methodology: The CES was translated into German via a forward-backward translation process.

[Value of patient-reported outcome measures for evaluating the benefit of speech processor upgrading in patients with cochlear implants. German version].

Background: Patients with a cochlear implant (CI) should be evaluated for a new speech processor every 6 years. The aim of this analysis was to assess the subjective and audiological benefit of upgrades.

Methods: Speech understanding and subjective benefit were analyzed in 99 patients with the old and the new speech processor after 4 weeks of wearing.

[Chronic mesotympanic Otitis media - Part 1: Diagnosis and Medical Treatment].

Chronic mesotympanal otitis media (CMOM) is a well-developed clinical presentation that is established in diagnostics and therapy. On closer inspection, however, this principle cannot be confirmed in all its facets. Already the physiology and pathophysiology of the middle ear mucosa leave questions unanswered, starting with the distribution of the ciliated epithelium in the middle ear and mastoid to the function of gas exchange.

Structure and establishment of the German Cochlear Implant Registry (DCIR).

Hearing rehabilitation of patients with severe hearing loss or deafness using cochlear implants (CI) is a very successful but also complex and lifelong process that requires high quality standards for structure, process, and results. Medical registries represent an ideal tool for conducting quality control relevant to care while at the same time collecting scientific data. Therefore, at the initiative of the Executive Committee of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DGHNO-KHC), a Germany-wide CI registry (the German Cochlear Implant Register, DCIR) was to be established.

Conception and implementation of a certification system for quality control of cochlear implant treatment in Germany.

A standardized and structured process is indispensable for optimal hearing rehabilitation with cochlear implants (CI). The Executive Committee of the German Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DGHNO-KHC), initiated the conception of a certification program and a Whitepaper based on the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF) clinical practice guideline (CPG) describing the current medical standards of CI care in Germany. The goal was to independently confirm implementation of this CPG and make this information publicly available.

[Recommendations of the German Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DGHNO-KHC) for the granting of resident training program authorizations].

The 2018 template for otorhinolaryngology specialist training of the German Medical Association is increasingly implemented by the federal associations. In this regard, the German Society recommended an otorhinolaryngology resident training plan for Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DGHNO-KHC) together with the Professional Association of German Otorhinolaryngologists as a suggested guideline for the federal medical associations. In this context, the state medical associations currently work on criteria on the basis of which otorhinolaryngologists and their training institutions can be granted authority for such a certified otorhinolaryngology resident training program.

[Structure and establishment of the German Cochlear Implant Registry].

Hearing rehabilitation of patients with severe hearing loss or deafness using cochlear implants (CI) is a very successful but also complex and lifelong process that requires high quality standards for structure, process, and results. Medical registries represent an ideal tool for conducting quality control relevant to care while at the same time collecting scientific data. Therefore, at the initiative of the Executive Committee of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DGHNO-KHC), a Germany-wide CI registry (the German Cochlear Implant Register, DCIR) was to be established.

[Conception and implementation of a certification system for quality control of cochlear implant treatment in Germany. German version].

A standardized and structured process is indispensable for optimal hearing rehabilitation with cochlear implants (CI). The Executive Committee of the German Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DGHNO-KHC), initiated the conception of a certification system and a Whitepaper based on the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF) clinical practice guideline (CPG) describing the current medical standards of CI care in Germany. The goal was to independently confirm implementation of this CPG and make this information publicly available.