Cochlear implants and deep brain stimulators.

Abstract

Objective and importance: With an aging population and increasing utilization of both cochlear implants (CI) to treat hearing loss and deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat neurodegenerative movement disorders, more patients will be sequentially implanted with the two devices. As such, understanding both presurgical evaluations and surgical procedures will be of great importance to the treating cochlear implant surgeon and neurosurgeon in optimizing outcomes for both conditions.

Clinical presentation: Two illustrative cases of sequential CI followed by DBS are reviewed. Relevant pre-, intra-, and postoperative issues are discussed for both DBS following CI surgery and CI following DBS surgery.

Conclusion: Despite the potential for challenges, sequential CI and DBS (and vice versa) can provide substantial benefit to those individuals with severe hearing loss and movement disorders. A thorough understanding of both devices is critical to ensuring optimal outcomes.