SPECT evaluation of regional cerebral activation during electrical auditory stimulation in profoundly deal patients

电岬刺激试验已被用于耳蜗植入患者听神经的术前功能评估。然而，由于缺乏关于皮质整合的客观信息，这项测试的结果似乎并不能预测人工耳蜗植入成功的程度。尝试使用单光子发射计算机断层扫描（SPECT）来评估在电刺激期间中央听觉区域脑血流量（rCBF）的可能变化。在深度耳聋成人患者的颞叶中检测到rCBF有统计学意义的增加。主观听觉和rCBF对电刺激反应的差异可能会限制SPECT在人工耳蜗候选者皮质整合术前评估中的潜在有用性。然而，在2例中枢神经疾病患者中发现了听觉皮层的明显激活，这鼓励了患者和外科医生进行人工耳蜗植入。进一步的研究，包括术前和术后使用rCBF SPECT测试，应该有助于确定深度耳聋患者涉及中枢听觉通路的声音整合机制。

Electrical promontory stimulation test has been used for preoperative functional evaluation of the auditory nerve in cochlear implant candidates. However, due to the lack of an objective information on cortical integration, results of this test do not seem to predict what extent the cochlear implant will be successful.An attempt was made to employ the single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to evaluate a possible change in the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the central auditory areas during electrical stimulation. A statistically significant increase in rCBF was detected in the temporal lobe in profoundly deaf adult patients. Discrepancy between subjective auditory sensation and rCBF changes in response to electrical stimulation may limit the potential usefulness of SPECT in preoperative evaluation of the cortical integration in cochlear implant candidates. However a significant activation of the auditory cortex detected in 2 cases with central nerve diseases encouraged both patients and surgeons for cochlear implantation. Further studies including pre- and postoperative tests using rCBF SPECT should be helpful to determine the mechanism of sound integration in profoundly deaf patients involving central auditory pathways.