The Effect of Cochlear Implant Electrode Array Type on Hearing Preservation

Objective

To compare hearing preservation outcomes between lateral wall and perimodiolar electrode arrays for cochlear implant patients.Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting a large Western Australian cochlear implant clinic. Methods: A total of 311 adult cochlear implant recipients (321 ears) implanted between 2017 and 2022 were included. Of these, 174 presented with postlingual hearing loss and preoperative functional low-frequency hearing. The change in low-frequency pure-tone average was assessed as the difference between preoperative to 3-, 6-, and 12-month postoperative measurements. Data were analyzed through linear mixed-effects modeling and one-way ANOVA.ResultsPreoperative low-frequency, pure-tone average was higher for those implanted with perimodiolar compared with lateral wall electrodes ( P  < .05). The linear mixed-effects model revealed that change in low-frequency pure-tone average at all postoperative timepoints was similar between lateral wall and perimodiolar electrodes ( P  > .05).ConclusionThere were similar changes in residual postoperative hearing between all electrode types when controlling for preoperative low-frequency hearing and age implanted. These data suggest that newer, thinner perimodiolar and lateral wall electrodes could be considered for individuals with greater levels of preoperative low-frequency hearing.