A Comparison of Surgical Auditory Nerve Response and Speech Outcomes in Patients with Post-meningitic Deafness and Without Cochlear Osteogenesis Who Underwent Cochlear Implantation.

Objective Patients with post-meningitis deafness remain challenging candidates for cochlear implantation (CI) which can be difficult due to fibrosis or ossification of the inner ear, and their outcomes remain doubtful. We assessed the surgical and audiological outcomes of CI in patients with profound sensorineural hearing loss caused by meningitis and compared those outcomes to patients without cochlear ossification. Methods This retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out at King Fahad General Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Among 246 patients who underwent cochlear implantation, 13 patients with post-meningitic deafness were identified (Group 1). A matched control group, including patients with deafness due to other causes who did not have cochlea osteogenesis, was selected (Group 2). For all patients, data were collected from medical records, including surgical and audiological outcomes. Results Sclerosis of the cochlea was high in Group 1 (46.2%). There were no postoperative surgical complications in either group. Responses of the auditory nerve action potential obtained through auditory response telemetry (ART) or the neural response telemetry (NRT) were recorded. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the intraoperative and the postoperative ART or NRT at selected electrodes representing the entire cochlea. Likewise, no significant difference regarding the speech recognition test (SRT) was detected. Conclusions Cochlear implantation is a safe procedure without surgical complications in post-meningitis patients. Furthermore, early CI in children was associated with favorable outcomes in terms of preservation of the auditory nerve response, restoration of speech discrimination, and recognition to levels comparable to patients with deafness due to other causes. Early audiological assessment in meningitis patients is recommended to identify hearing loss and eventually to offer CI.