[Test of electrical stimulation of the round window. Diagnostic and prognostic value of the rehabilitation of total deafness by cochlear implant].

The round window electrical stimulation (RWES) test has been performed in 708 cases of total deafness. Among them 244 have successfully benefited with a cochlear implant. Electrical Brain Stem Evoked (EBSE) potential elicited by this stimulation have been registrated in 283 cases, 113 of them during general anesthesia necessary in children. This test supplies the patient with a subjective sound sensation and/or EBSE in 93% of cases. The correlation between electrical data of this RWES test and clinical results of the cochlear implant is described. This test is discussed regarding the simple transtympanique promonotory stimulation test.