The transtympanic promontory stimulation test in patients with auditory deprivation: correlations with electrical dynamics of cochlear implant and speech perception

Transtympanic promontory stimulation test (TPST) has been suggested to be a useful tool in predicting postoperative outcomes in patients at risk of poor auditory neuron functioning, especially after a long auditory deprivation. However, only sparse data are available on this topic. This study aimed at showing correlations between the auditory nerve dynamic range, evaluated by TPST, the electrical dynamic range of the cochlear implant and speech perception outcome. We evaluated 65 patients with postlingual hearing loss and no residual hearing, implanted with a Nucleus CI24 cochlear implant device for at least 2 years and with a minimum of 17 active electrodes. Using the TPST, we measured the threshold for auditory perception (T-level) and the maximum acceptable level of stimulation (M-level) at stimulation frequencies of 50, 100 and 200 Hz. General linear regression was performed to correlate 1/speech perception, evaluated using the PBK test 1 year after surgery, and 2/cochlear implant electrical dynamic range, with the age at time of implantation, the duration of auditory deprivation, the etiology of the deafness, the duration of cochlear implant use and auditory nerve dynamic range. Postoperative speech perception outcome correlated with etiology, duration of auditory deprivation and implant use, and TPST at 100 and 200 Hz. The dynamic range of the cochlear implant map correlated with duration of auditory deprivation, speech perception outcome at 6 months and TPST at 100 and 200 Hz. TPST test can be used to predict functional outcome after cochlear implant surgery in difficult cases.