[Postoperative conventional tomography of the temporal bone in the assessment of inadequate perception in patients with cochlear implants].

Between August 1984 and August 1990, 166 patients received a 22-channel cochlear implant (Nucleus) in the ENT clinic in Hannover. Some of these patients who were able to understand speech nevertheless complained of inadequate perception. To study this further a phantom skull with a cochlear implant was examined by CT and by conventional tomography of the petrous bone in various image planes. The method of choice for evaluating the position and appearance of the cochlear implant proved to be conventional tomography of the petrous bone in the frontal transorbital plane. In 7/23 patients examined it was possible to demonstrate dislocation of the electrodes; this is evidently responsible for the faulty perception.