CI Evaluation

[C-NICE]

Had CT Scan

Had CT Scan yesterday, waiting on results. What can CT scans tell you about your inner ears anyway?

 

[cdmeggers]

it can tell if there's any blockages in your inner ears, or any other issues that might be going on.

 

[ambrosia]

Had CT Scan yesterday, waiting on results. What can CT scans tell you about your inner ears anyway?

Ct scans ar for bones, MRI's are for soft tissue, so an MRI would find problems with nerves, tumors, and CT scan would look at the bones in your ears, I guess it depends on what they're looking for, what your problems are with your hearing. My CTscan was looking for evidence of otosclerosis which hardens and reforms the bones in your ears. Prob checking on what your cochlea looks like

 

[C-NICE]

CT Results From Surgeon

Mr. Curtis

I have had a chance to look at the CT scan, it is normal. It is more
common than we would think to see a normal scan in hearing loss. It did
not show any cause for the hearing loss, but the good news is it does
not show any problems that would prevent an implant being done. Sorry
for the hassle of the secure email, these are requirements for sending
thing in email since your health information is confidential. If you
need anything further please contact JP, he can get the message to me.

Tom Haberkamp

 

[cdmeggers]

Ct scans ar for bones, MRI's are for soft tissue, so an MRI would find problems with nerves, tumors, and CT scan would look at the bones in your ears, I guess it depends on what they're looking for, what your problems are with your hearing. My CTscan was looking for evidence of otosclerosis which hardens and reforms the bones in your ears. Prob checking on what your cochlea looks like

I had a CT done years ago, showed no problems. MRI was done a few weeks before surgery, just to be sure there was no ossification in my left ear. MRI was clear... funny enough, my surgeon went into my ear and found ossification anyway, so both CT and MRI didn't pick up on it. Surgeon says sometimes the CT scan doesn't pick up on the ossification, but the MRI will usually catch it. In my case, it didn't cause I guess the ossification was deep enough in the ear. Leave it to me to make things tricky haha.

 

[NaidaUP]

I had a CT done years ago, showed no problems. MRI was done a few weeks before surgery, just to be sure there was no ossification in my left ear. MRI was clear... funny enough, my surgeon went into my ear and found ossification anyway, so both CT and MRI didn't pick up on it. Surgeon says sometimes the CT scan doesn't pick up on the ossification, but the MRI will usually catch it. In my case, it didn't cause I guess the ossification was deep enough in the ear. Leave it to me to make things tricky haha.

I had a MRI once which showed no damage but once operated on, they found a huge amount of damage. My surgeon said about 10% of people MRI doesn't show everything. (Sorry not hearing related but I never knew MRI didn't show everything until it happen to me)

 

[cdmeggers]

Kind of odd how that works out. I had both regular MRI and contrast MRI and neither scans showed anything. Oh well! It's done and over with now. Just hope I don't have the same problem if I should ever implant my right ear too.

 

[ecp]

Ct scans ar for bones, MRI's are for soft tissue, so an MRI would find problems with nerves, tumors, and CT scan would look at the bones in your ears, I guess it depends on what they're looking for, what your problems are with your hearing. My CTscan was looking for evidence of otosclerosis which hardens and reforms the bones in your ears. Prob checking on what your cochlea looks like

The CT scan is likely looking for Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome or Mondoni deformity. These both can cause progressive hearing loss and the anatomy of the cochlea can be altered in such a way that the surgeon needs to try a different approach in placing the cochlear implant electrodes.
Sometimes people only have 1.5 or 2 turns in their cochleas so the electrode needs to be shorter. O if you had meningitis as a kid that can cause bone to form within your cochlea which can make it hard to get the electrode next to the hearing nerve.

Also, this is unlikely for you, but some people are missing parts of their 8th cranial nerve, the one that connects the ear to the brain. There were cases of infants who were perfect CI candidates who were found to not have an 8th cranial nerve on one side and a malformed cochlea on the other.

CT scan is standard for pre-implantation and generally in progressive SNHL.
I had one when I was 18.

 

[C-NICE]

More Info, More problems

Mr Curtis

I am writing to let you know the results of the CT scan and I also in
reviewing the chart noted the email conversation you had with audiology.


First of all the CT of the inner ear was normal. What this means is
there is nothing that would prevent an implant from being done when the
time comes, rarely does the CT show us why your hearing is lost.

What we did see that should be evaluated is that there appears to be a
cyst on one of the upper molar teeth on the left side. It looks like
there is also some sinus inflammation on that side. I am curious if you
have been having any tooth pain or sensitivity, but even if not it
should be addressed. I will show it to the dental people here to see
what they think, and to ask suggestions.

Finally I feel your frustration about the hearing findings. This is
almost as frustrating for me because you are in that grey area where you
just do not qualify for insurance coverage for implant surgery, but are
doing poorly with the current hearing aids. Getting more powerful
hearing aids may as you worried be a temporary solution, but I would
encourage it because we do not know how long it would be until the
hearing degenerates to the degree we can perform an implant, it may be
one year, may be several. You also need to decide how much problem you
are having now since even if it is temporary you are struggling with
your current hearing . I will let you know what dental thinks

Tom Haberkamp

 

[NaidaUP]

Those are my score with no aids at all

44% and 64% speech scores without HAs is amazing. That's WAY better then some profoundly deaf people get with their HAs, including myself!

Hope your dental problems get sorted

 

[ecp]

44% and 64% speech scores without HAs is amazing. That's WAY better than some profoundly deaf people get with their HAs, including myself!

Hope your dental problems get sorted

Those scores are better than my best scores in the "best aided condition" with my hearing aids at the maximum they can amplify.
I've only gotten 45% at 95 to 100 dB without hearing aids (but the input was 95-100 dB and shaped to match my hearing loss).

 

[NaidaUP]

Those scores are better than my best scores in the "best aided condition" with my hearing aids at the maximum they can amplify.
I've only gotten 45% at 95 to 100 dB without hearing aids (but the input was 95-100 dB and shaped to match my hearing loss).

I got nothing on my left at 110db and 26% on my right at 110% unaided. Aided on my right I'm at 64% and 4% on my left.