Objective: To analyze the long-term speech comprehension and rate of complications of cochlear implantation in chronic otitis media.
Study design: Retrospective data analysis.
Setting: Tertiary referral center with a large cochlear implant program.
Main outcome measure: Speech perception scores in quiet and background noise and rate of complications.
Patients: Forty ears from a total of 38 patients with a mean age of 63.28 ± 2.16 years at the time of implantation were included.
Results: Patients with a history of multiple ear surgeries, with no alternative option for hearing restoration than a cochlear implant, were implanted with satisfactory results in regard to speech comprehension. Preoperative bone conduction PTA4 correlated to postoperative speech comprehension scores in background noise. The rate of complications was low, but higher than in cases of cochlear implantation in normal middle ears.
Conclusion: Cochlear implantation in chronic otitis media can be a satisfactory and safe procedure, if the surgery technique and aftercare is appropriate to the altered anatomy.