Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2019 Oct;40(9):1160-1166.
doi: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000002366.

Matched Cohort Comparison Indicates Superiority of Precurved Electrode Arrays

Jourdan T Holder  1 , Robert J Yawn  2 , Ashley M Nassiri  2 , Robert T Dwyer  1 , Alejandro Rivas  2 , Robert F Labadie  2 , René H Gifford  1
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Matched Cohort Comparison Indicates Superiority of Precurved Electrode Arrays

Jourdan T Holder et al. Otol Neurotol. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: Characterize differences in adult cochlear implant outcomes and programming parameters for a straight (CI422/522) and a precurved (CI532) electrode array.

Setting: Cochlear implant (CI) program at a tertiary otologic center.

Patients: Fifty-eight adults were included in the study; 29 were implanted with CI422 or CI522 and 29 were implanted with CI532. Each CI532 recipient was matched to a CI422/522 recipient in terms of age and preoperative hearing thresholds for comparison purposes.

Main outcome measures: Consonant-Nucleus-Consonant (CNC) words, AzBio sentences, residual audiometric thresholds, and Speech Spatial Qualities (SSQ) questionnaire collected 6 months postoperatively were used to characterize outcomes. Pulse duration, maxima, impedances, and overall charge measurements were used to characterize programming parameters.

Results: Postoperative unaided low frequency pure-tone average (LFPTA) was significantly better for the CI532 group. CNC scores were significantly better for the CI532 group. Impedances and pulse duration were significantly lower for the CI532 group, but there was no difference in overall charge between the groups.

Conclusion: The CI532 group showed either similar or statistically superior results on all measures when compared with the CI422/522 suggesting that the CI532 electrode may be an advantageous substitute for the CI522.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Preoperative (dashed line) and postoperative (solid line) acoustic hearing are shown for 125, 250, and 500 Hz.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Individual speech recognition outcomes collected at approximately 6 months after implantation are shown as percent correct. Bars represent mean data. Difference in Consonant-Nucleus-Consonant (CNC) was found to be statistically significant (p=0.016).
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
Mean impedances measured from each electrode contact are shown for 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months post-activation. A, shows the 422/522 data, and (B) shows the 532 data.
FIG. 4.
FIG. 4.
Mean charge levels are shown for five primary electrode contacts, as well as the average across the array for each electrode array type.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Fabie JE, Keller RG, Hatch JL, et al. Evaluation of outcome variability associated with lateral wall, mid-scalar, and perimodiolar electrode arrays when controlling for preoperative patient characteristics. Otol Neurotol 2018;39:1122–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Finley CC, Holden T, Holden LK, et al. Role ofelectrode placement as a contributor to variability in cochlear implant outcomes. Otol Neurotol 2008;29:920–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Holden LK, Finley CC, Firszt JB, et al. Factors affecting open-set word recognition in adults with cochlear implants. Ear Hear 2013;34:342–60. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tong YC, Busby PA, Clark GM. Perceptual studies on cochlear implant patients with early onset of profound hearing impairment prior to normal development of auditory, speech, and language skills. J Acoust Soc Am 1988;84:951–62. - PubMed
    1. Rubinstein JT, Parkinson WS, Tyler RS, Gantz BJ. Residual speech recognition and cochlear implant performance: effects of implantation criteria. Am J Otol 1999;20:445–52. - PubMed

Publication types