Surgical Outcomes of Simultaneous Cochlear Implantation and Intracochlear Schwannoma Removal

OBJECTIVE: Intracochlear schwannoma is very rare, and complete loss of hearing is inevitable after the removal of this tumor. Here, we discuss cochlear implantation (CI) performed simultaneously with the removal of an intracochlear schwannoma. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective single-center study. SETTING: Tertiary medical institute. METHODS: Simultaneous CI and intracochlear schwannoma removal were performed in 4 subjects. After subtotal cochleostomy, the tumors were removed meticulously, with preservation of the modiolus. A new slim modiolar electrode (Nucleus CI632) was placed in a manner that hugged the modiolus. The surgical outcomes of functional gain, word recognition score (WRS), sound localization, and hearing in noise and speech intelligibility tests were investigated. RESULTS: Intracochlear schwannomas were removed successfully from the 4 patients, with no remnant tumor. The mean aided hearing threshold 6 months after surgery was 25.0 ± 1.8 dB, and the mean-aided WRS with a 60 dB stimulus was 36.0 ± 18.8% (range 16%-60%). The Categorical Auditory Performance (CAP) score of the 3 single-sided deafness patients under contralateral ear masking was 7. The CAP score of the patient with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss was 6, which improved from a preoperative score of 0. CONCLUSION: When an intracochlear schwannoma does not completely invade the modiolus, CI with simultaneous tumor removal can be performed successfully, resulting in good hearing performance. A slim modiolar electrode can be placed stably at the modiolus after schwannoma removal.