Cochlear Implantation in a Patient with Implanted Trigeminus Stimulator—Clinical Considerations for Using Two Different Electrical Stimulators in the Same Patient and Our Results

Abstract

Implantation of two electrical stimulators of different cranial nerves in one patient is rare. We report the case of a forty-seven-year-old patient already implanted with a trigeminus nerve stimulator. In addition, this patient suffered from hearing problems. In one ear, the patient was deaf. On the other side, the patient wore a bone conduction hearing aid to improve hearing. In this complex situation, we decided to check the possibility of cochlear implantation on the deaf side. Finally, we managed to provide electrical stimulation of the auditory pathway of the deaf ear to improve the patient’s hearing tests. In addition, this case report shows how the trigeminus stimulator interferes with the electrical stimulation in auditory evoked potentials measurement of the auditory brainstem and cortex via EABR (evoked auditory brainstem response) resp. EALR (evoked auditory late response).

Keywords

• cochlear implant
• EABR
• EALR
• trigeminal nerve stimulator