The Use of a Robot to Insert an Electrode Array of Cochlear Implants in the Cochlea: A Feasibility Study and Preliminary Results.

INTRODUCTION: Cochlear implants (CIs) are commonly used for the rehabilitation of profound bilateral hearing loss. However, patients with substantial residual acoustic hearing are potential CI candidates. Because of both improvements in technology and advancements in surgical techniques, it may be possible to preserve hearing to some extent. For more than a decade, it has been suggested that robots are used to perform middle ear surgery. We evaluated the use of the RobOtol® otologic robot specifically to insert CI electrodes into the inner ear. METHODS: CI surgery with the conventional approach was performed under general anesthesia. The MED-El Flex 24-electrode array was inserted using RobOtol®. Video recordings were used to calculate the speed of insertion. The positions of the electrodes were evaluated using a cone beam CT. All subjects underwent pure-tone audiometry tests before and after surgery, and the pure-tone average (PTA) was calculated from 250 to 4,000 Hz. RESULTS: The robot inserted implants in 5 patients, and complete insertion of the electrode array was achieved. The speed of insertion of the electrode array was 0.88 ± 0.12 mm/s. The mean loss of the PTA for 5 frequencies (250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 Hz) was 13.60 ± 7.70 dB. Only 1 patient showed a loss of the PTA by >20 dB. For these 5 patients, the cone beam CT findings showed that all the electrode arrays were in the tympanic ramp and had a grade of 0. The results were compared with those obtained from a cohort of 17 patients who underwent manual implantation of a MED-El Flex 24-electrode array. CONCLUSION: To minimize disturbance to the cochlea while atraumatic electrode arrays are inserted, electrodes can be inserted at a constant, slow speed in the inner ear with the assistance of the RobOtol® robot in a normal clinical surgical setting.

Neuronal surface antibody-mediated encephalopathy as manifestation of chronic graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Although it remained controversial for a long time, central nervous system (CNS) involvement of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is now becoming recognized as a real nosological entity. Previous case reports have suggested heterogeneous clinical presentations and it is not excluded that the whole spectrum of manifestations has not yet been fully described. Here, we report the case of a 58-year-old man with chronic GVHD who developed a rapidly ingravescent encephalopathy. There was no evidence for CNS immune-mediated lesions on conventional imaging nor for cellular infiltration in the cerebrospinal fluid. Serum analyses revealed the presence of anti-neuronal antibodies directed against anti-contactin-associated protein 2 (anti-Caspr2), a protein associated with voltage-gated potassium neuronal channels. Functional imaging with 2-deoxy-2-[fluorine-18] fluoro- d-glucose integrated with computed tomography (18F-FDG PET-CT) demonstrated diffuse cortical and subcortical hypometabolism. The patient was treated with a combination of immunosuppressive agents (corticosteroids, cyclophosphamide and rituximab) and progressively recovered normal neurocognitive functions. Taken together, these data suggest that CNS-GVHD may manifest as a reversible antibody-mediated functional encephalopathy. This report suggests for the first time the interest of screening for anti-neuronal antibodies and functional imaging with brain 18F-FDG PET-CT in diagnosing this severe complication of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHSCT).