and bony growth

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

When you first get an implant, part of the mastoid bone that is

underneath and above the external part of the ear is removed so the

implanted part will fit in nice and snug. That's one of the bones that

people are referring to.

In cases where hearing is lost because of meningitis or otosclerosis,

there is sometimes bony growth inside the cochlea. Drs do an MRI and a

CT scan to determine if there is any bony growth there before they do the

implant. Just so they aren't going to be surprised.

If you have a lot of bony growth (ossification) in your cochlea, the

Dr. can use a double array implant that allows him to put half the

electrodes in 2 parts of the cochlea. But most people who lose their

hearing gradually don't have ossification in the cochlea. If you lost

hearing because of meningitis, then it is a concern. If you lost your

hearing from otosclerosis, it is a concern. But most of us didn't have

any problem with this. It's not that common.

When an implant is removed, sometimes they find that some ossification

has occured. Not always, and not enough to make reinsertion impossible.

So, it's really not something that you need to worry about too much.

It's something that Dora Weber experienced from otosclerosis, and she was

able to be implanted in both ears.

I can understand that part of the surgery, the surgeon have to remove

some of the bone for magnet to insert. But bone growth? Is that

possible??? For most cases?

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