Cochl ear implant surgery is regarded as safe for the auditory rehabilitation of individuals suffering from profound/severe hearing loss. Complications may arise from the surgery. The complications of implant cochlear surgery reflect the operation complexity, the skill of the surgical team and the inherent risks of the procedure itself. Aim:To establish and discuss the postoperative complications in implanted patients from the Cochlear Implant Program of Rio Grande do Norte -Brazil. Study design: Retrospective analysis. Materials and methods: This paper discusses the clinical records of 250 patients implanted betweenAugust 2000 to December 2008. All patients were implanted by the same surgeon. The postoperative complications were classified in minor as those that resolved with minimal or no treatment and major as those requiring additional surgery or hospitalization.Results: In our sample, 33 patients (13.2%) had postoperative complications. Minor complications affected 20 cases (8.0%), while major complications occurred in 13 cases (5.2%). Hematomas, device failures and infections had the highest clinical relevance. Conclusion:This review reinstates the safety of the surgical procedure in relation to the possible occurrence of postoperative complications and emphasizes the need for continuous surgeon education and training. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2010;76(4):517-21. ORIGINAL ARTICLE BJORL

The preoperative radiological evaluation by CI was effective in identifying anatomic abnormalities, allowing surgeons to avoid, or at least be aware of, possible complications. This study demonstrated that CT and MRI were superior to CT alone.

A to investigate the major etiological agents that caused deafness in the studied population is of great relevance to prognostic and treatment purposes and it serves as sampling for future actions in the public health. Aim: to check the different hearing impairment etiologies of patients in the cochlear implant program; we studied the etiologies described in order to correlate etiology with age. Materials and Methods Results and conclusion:Unknown etiology prevailed as main cause, and this indicates the need to continue carrying out genetic studies in those cases of congenital sensorineural hearing loss without an apparent cause in order to trace and etiological profile. Rubella was the second most found cause, and for this etiology there already are preventive measures as there are for meningitis. Even then, the incidences of these diseases remain high. In the correlation of the different etiologies and age ranges, we noticed varied etiologies when we compared children, young adults, adults and the elderly. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2011;77(1):13-8. ORIGINAL ARTICLE BJORL

Eval uation by imaging methods is critical in the preoperative care of cochlear implant (CI) surgery, providing safety to surgeons when indicating and performing this procedure. The preoperative muldisciplinary selection process included CT associated or not with MRI. Results: The final sample was composed of 100 patients after 4 patients with no records of radiological exams were excluded. Patients were divided into two groups. The accuracy of group A (CT only) was 69.69%, the sensitivity was 36.36%, the specificity was 86.36%, the Positive Predictive Value (PPV) was 57.14%, and the Negative Predictive Value (NPV) was 73.07%; the accuracy of group B (CT and MRI) was 80.59%, the sensitivity was 38.46%, the specificity was 90.74%, the PPV was 50.0%, and the NPV was 85.96%. Conclusion: The preoperative radiological evaluation by CI was effective in identifying anatomic abnormalities, allowing surgeons to avoid, or at least be aware of, possible complications. This study demonstrated that CT and MRI were superior to CT alone.