a few questions: post op and abi/ci

[kke]

How long do you have to be concerned about developing a spinal fluid leak after surgery for removal of acoustic neuroma?  Is there a window of time that it is more likely to occur, or do you have a 4-6 week time period to be very careful and vigilent.  (no evidence of leak, just a worry..........)

The surgeons have discussed a cochlear implant as an option in the future, but I am not understanding why it is possible with NF2 to work.......Can someone explain why some NF2' ers can get a CI and some have to get the ABI.

My son had a middle fossa craniotomy on one side in an attempt to preserve hearing, the hearing was lost and the other tumor is very small.  We will watch that tumor now of course and w....a.....i......t.  I appreciate any assistance in helping me understand the difference with CI and ABI.

[FlyersFan68]

This is just my understanding (no doctor here). You need a hearing nerve present for a Cochlear Implant. It can even be damaged and there doesn't have to be a nerve intact on the other side. ABI's are used when the second hearing nerve is cut. Sometimes tumor and cochlear fibers cannot be identified and seperated during surgery. Sometimes tumors destroy the nerve on their own. ABI's bypass the hearing nerve with direct stimulation to the brain. There have been good results with the ABI especially with lip reading enhancement up to 70% and considering the fact that some hearing is better than none. I believe CI's can only be implanted on one side just like the ABI. CI's in many cases are extremely beneficial especially since hearing tends to be more normal. ABI's are usually implanted immediately following the second surgery for best results. House performs both and believe that the CI & ABI were actually invented there many years ago. There are a few other facilities also trained with ABI's and many facilities are trained with CI's but if your situtaion is NF2 I would steer more towards facilities that are more familiar and specialize with this condition.

[FlyersFan68]

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4540