Ces radiol. 2011, 65(4):298-306

The role of imaging modalities in cochlear implant planingReview article

Katarína Slávikova¹, Zuzana Bilická², Zuzana Kabátová³, Milan Profant³

¹ I. Rádiologická klinika LF UK a UNB, Bratislava, Slovenská republika

² Rádiológia s.r.o, Bratislava, Slovenská republika

³ I. Otorinolaryngologická klinika LF UK, UNB a SZU, Bratislava, Slovenská republika

CT and/or MR imaging of acoustic nerve, inner ear and superior centers of acoustic pathway is a gold standard before planned cochlear implantation. Condition of inner ear plays an important role in determining the outcome of cochlear implantation (CI). Most of the candidates for CI lost their hearing by impairment of the Corti organ, in otherwise anatomically normal ear with normal number of ganglion cells and fibers of acoustic nerve. Role of imaging is help to find the cause of deafness and identify anatomic conditions before surgical intervention. In this article we are trying to review different pathologic conditions of temporal bone, inner ear and acoustic nerve that are important to identify before cochlear implantation. Detection of abnormality in inner or middle ear gives surgeon a possibility to implant in a proper part of ear, plan the specific surgical techinque and determine the right type of electrode for implantation.

Keywords: cochlear implant, inner ear malformation, meningitis, otosclerosis, cochlear nerve

Accepted: September 15, 2011; Published: December 1, 2011  Show citation