First results of electrode reimplantation and its hypothetical dependence from artificial brain maturation.

BACKGROUND: After introducing the first Cochlear Implants also in children theses are grown with electrical intracochlear stimulation and subsequent auditory cortical development. Over the meantime the positioning of the electrode was changed orientated on the development of electrode design, ability to insert atraumatic and on the widening of the indications towards highfrequency deafness. METHODS: In this pilot study we analysed five prelingually deafened patients implanted as child in the late 90's and had a reimplantation 2016 or later. We compared CT and DVT (cone beam CT) scans of the temporal bone and measured the insertion angle, the cochlear coverage, the total length of the electrode in the cochlea and the distance of the first active electrode to the round window. Moreover, we compared their speech understanding before and after reimplantation. RESULTS: The results show a lowering in the insertion angle, the cochlear coverage, the total length of the electrode in the cochlea, in the distance of the first active electrode to the round window and in the speech understanding after reimplantation. CONCLUSION: These results show a difference in the depth of insertion while the speech understanding is not significantly improving in this group-although the technology is advanced. The influence of auditory maturation with CI in these patients will be discussed.

Realidade virtual nas síndromes vestibulares / Virtual reality in vestibular syndromes

A tontura é queixa comum na prática médica, especialmente para otorrinolaringologistas. Pacientes com tontura podem descrevê-la como desequilíbrios, mal-estar, tendência a quedas, instabilidade, sensação de flutuação ou sensação rotatória acompanhada de náuseas, vômitos e sinais e sintomas neurovegetativos. A identificação de sua causa é de grande importância para um adequado planejamento terapêutico e a contribuição tecnológica tem-se mostrado muito valiosa para o manejo das vestibulopatias. Sistemas de realidade virtual provaram ser ótimas ferramentas auxiliares tanto no diagnóstico quanto no tratamento de pacientes com transtornos do equilíbrio.Este estudo pretende revisar e comentar a literatura científica recente a respeito dos métodos de realidade virtual direcionados para a avaliação e reabilitação das síndromes vestibulares.