UC Irvine

Objectives

To evaluate the effectiveness of triamcinolone injections in treating external magnet displacement in cochlear implant (CI) patients with adhesions problems of their processor.

Patients

We present seven CI patients with magnet adhesion issues who presented to our tertiary care neurotology clinic. None of the patients had a history of head trauma, postimplant MRI, or surgery in the head and neck other than the cochlear implantation.

Intervention

Triamcinolone 40 mg/mL injected subcutaneously at the CI magnet site.

Main outcome measure

Reduction of scalp thickness and successful magnet retention.

Results

Our cohort consisted of seven patients (eight implant sites) of which five were overweight or obese. The temporoparietal scalp thickness measured on preoperative CT scans varied between 8.4 and 15.9 mm. Initial conservative measures such as hair shaving at the magnet site, using a headband, and increasing magnet strength failed in all patients. After receiving triamcinolone injections at the CI receiver site, six out of seven patients (seven out of eight CI sites) were able to use their processor again without the need for a headband for an average of 9.55 hours/day. The average number of injections required for each patient was 2.57 (SD = 2.18), median (range) = 1 (1-7). One patient required a flap thinning surgery but showed no improvement even after flap thinning. None of the patients showed skin irritation, breakdown, ulceration, necrosis, or magnet exposure during follow-up period.

Conclusions

The significant improvement in CI retention shows that triamcinolone injections are effective in making the subcutaneous tissue thinner and allowing magnet retention.