Cochlear implants for mumps deafness: two paediatric cases.

BACKGROUND

Good outcomes have been reported regarding the use of cochlear implants for mumps deafness. The mumps virus induces meningitis and/or encephalitis, which can cause central nervous system damage resulting in retrolabyrinthine hearing loss, for which a cochlear implant would be less effective.

METHODS

We installed a cochlear implant in two patients with bilateral mumps deafness; one achieved a good result with the cochlear implant, but the other did not. We discuss two possible reasons for the different outcomes. Case 1 was a three-year-old girl with bilateral parotid swelling, vomiting and walking disorder. One year after cochlear implant insertion, speech perception did not develop despite of good pure tone thresholds. Case 2 was an eight-year-old girl with bilateral parotid swelling. A cochlear implant enabled her to improve hearing perception.

CONCLUSIONS

Although cochlear implants have been reported to be helpful for mumps deafness, cases that involve central nervous system damage may not achieve good results.