Effect of unilateral cochlear implant use on contralateral electrically evoked auditory brainstem responses to round window membrane electrical stimulation

Background Long-term use of a unilateral cochlear implant (CI) may lead to abnormal development of contralateral auditory pathway. Objectives To investigate the usefulness of measuring the electrically evoked auditory brainstem response (eABR) with the electrical stimulation at the round window membrane and the effect of unilateral CI use on the contralateral auditory pathway functions. Materials and methods According to duration of unilateral CI use, 45 children with severe or profound sensorineural hearing loss were divided into sCI (<= 12 months), lCI (>= 24 months) and nCI (no CI use) groups. Intra-operative eABRs evoked by electrical stimulation at the round window membrane were recorded. Results The latencies of eIII and eV were significantly longer in lCI group than in sCI group and in nCI group, respectively, but not significantly different between sCI group and nCI group. The eABR thresholds and eIII-eV latency intervals were not significantly different among three groups. Conclusions and significance The eABR evoked by the electrical stimulation at the round window membrane is a reliable and effective way of evaluating functions of the auditory pathway in deaf children. Long-term use of a unilateral CI may promote the degenerative process of the contralateral auditory pathway to the level of the brainstem.