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The introduction of the German Cochlear Implant Registry (DCIR) in 2022 represents a milestone in the quality control of cochlear implant therapy in Germany. The data collected in 2022 were analyzed and the main results are presented. In 2022, 75 hospitals have agreed to participate in the registry. Data transfer was verified by 58 hospitals over the course of the year. A total of 2,036 implantations were documented by these hospitals. Data entry varied between 1 and 128 surgerys per hospital. 3 participating hospitals documented more than 100 procedures, 15 hospitals more than 50 procedures. The average number was 35.1 data sets per participating hospital (median 26). In 2022, 1,685 of 2,036 implantations were performed on adults and 351 on children. 3.1% (63 patients) of all cases were in patients younger than 1 year and 2.6% (53 patients) were older than 85 years. The gender distribution of all patients was almost balanced (934 female (49.9%) and 937 male (50.1%)). An initial evaluation, beyond the purely demographic data, also allows statements to be made on the duration of hearing loss, the number of single-sided deafness patients and etiological surveys on the cause of hearing loss. The number of data records collected is already very extensive at the start of the registry operation. Despite the considerable variance in the number of data records per participating hospital relevant analyses can already be carried out at this stage with regard to demographic and etiological data. Despite all the technical, organizational and structural challenges, the DCIR has gone through a successful start-up phase and is already providing interesting new insights into cochlear implant care in Germany, both for the participating hospitals and for the national annual report.
Stöver et al. (Fri,) studied this question.