Background: In order to achieve the best possible hearing and understanding with a cochlear implant (CI), regular hearing speech therapy treatment is necessary after implantation. This treatment should also be accessible to the growing proportion of hearing-impaired people with a migration background. This requires an alternative to therapy in the therapist's native language. The aim of this study was to evaluate six multilingual conversation applications with regard to their usefulness for therapy. Material and Methods: The six most commonly used applications were reviewed in terms of accuracy of content and grammatical translation, as well as pronunciation for English, Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, and Russian by native speakers. The number of available languages, availability, cost, and additional features were also analyzed. The accuracy of the content and grammatical translation as well as the pronunciation were statistically evaluated, and the differences were highlighted. The results of the different applications were compared with the performance of a native speaker. Results: All applications tested differed significantly from the native speaker level, with Google Translator showing the closest approximation to the native speaker level. All apps offer translations for multiple languages and, with exceptions, are available in both app stores. Furthermore, all apps have additional therapist-facilitating features. Conclusion: Multilingual conversation apps can make speech therapy in a foreign language much easier when used with patients. An adaptation of the software to the specific requirements of a hearing speech therapy is necessary to achieve a linguistic level that corresponds to the native language of the therapist and to enable an easy use in the therapy.

Background: In most cases, intra-labyrinthine schwannoma (ILS) occurs in patients with unilateral hearing deterioration or neurofibromatosis type II (NF II). The pattern of localization of these tumors is various but affects mostly the cochlea. Extirpation of the ILS, if hidden by the cochlea modiolus, is difficult under the aspect of complete removal. Therefore, a tissue removal device (TRD) was designed and tested in temporal bones. The principle of handling the new device is a pushing and pipe cleaner handling inside the cochlea. This present study aimed to describe the first in vivo experience with the newly developed TRD for removing cochlear intra-labyrinthine schwannoma. Methods: In three patients, the TRD was used for the tumor removal of ILS. In two patients with a cochlear schwannoma in combination with a cochlea implantation and one patient suffering from NF II, a cochlear schwannoma was removed with the TRD. The access was performed with a posterior tympanotomy, an enlarged round window approach, and an additional second-turn access. The device was inserted and extracted gradually from the second turn access until the rings were visible in the second turn access. By pushing and pipe cleaner handling, the tumors were removed. An MRI control was performed on the day postoperatively with a T1 GAD sequence. Results: Tumor removal with the TRD was performed in a 15-minute procedure. MRI control confirmed a complete removal on the postoperative day in both cases. Conclusion: In vivo handling of the device confirmed a straightforward handling for tumor removal. MRI scanning showed a complete removal of the tumor by the TRD.

Introduction: Based on clinical practice guidelines, the application of corticosteroids as first-line therapy is common. Although SSHL's etiology is primarily idiopathic, hearing loss can result from perilymphatic fistula (PLF). Recent findings show evidence of a spe-cific rate of PLF based on a cochlin- tomoprotein (CTP) detection test. Based on this rate of PLF treatment, the concepts of SSNHL need to be re-evaluated. The present study aimed to evaluate CTP in SSNHL patients and compare pre-surgical and post-surgical pure tone hearing thresholds after round and oval window sealing as first-line treatment. Material and Methods: 30 patients with unilateral SSNHL with pure tone average (PTA) (4 Freq.) of 60 dB or more were enrolled in a prospective study. All patients underwent tympanoscopy for middle ear exploration as first-line treatment. After intraoperative obser-vation of possible PLF all patients obtained middle ear lavage to gain CTP samples for following ELISA-based CTP detection tests. All patients received round window and oval window sealing with fascia. PTA hearing thresholds were analyzed post-surgical 3 weeks after treatment based on 4-frequency bone conduction (BC). Results: Average preoperative pure-tone BC threshold was 97,7 dB compared with 69 dB postoperative BC threshold. Mean BC improved by 20,3 dB after middle ear explora-tion and window sealing. 56% (17 of 30) of patients recovered at least 10 dB. Middle ear cochlin-tomoprotein detection rate was in 70% positive. Conclusion: The combination of early tympanoscopy and inner ear-specific cochlin-tomoprotein as a detection tool for suspected perilymphatic fistula shows evidence of PLF as a key causative in SSNHL.