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Tinnitus is defined as a tinnitus perceived both by the patient and external observers. This category represents 1.5% of the total amount of tinnitus evaluated in tertiary healthcare institutions.

Objectives: Electrically evoked compound action potentials (eCAP) recordings are widely used in functional evaluation and fitting of cochlear implants (CI) in clinics. We compared the results from two eCAP recording approaches (StandardART and FineGrain, MED-EL, Austria). The FineGrain method is more advanced than the Auditory Nerve Response Telemetry (StandardART) method in terms of the stimulation and algorithm for the eCAP threshold detection. To understand the benefits of these alterations, we compared the two methods on a larger scale in pediatric CI users alongside evoked auditory brainstem responses (eABR)., Materials and Methods: We collected the eCAP recordings obtained with both methods from a population of pediatric subjects with CI, either intra- or post-operatively. The eABR recordings were only collected post-operatively. For comparability reasons, we used the same stimulation rate and similar amplitude levels for all three approaches., Results: Our results demonstrate that, although the success rates are similar, the FineGrain method outperforms traditional StandardART in terms of robustness and measurement duration. The eCAP recordings in general outperform the eABR in terms of speed., Conclusion: We conclude that the eCAP recordings are the method of choice for measuring the auditory neural activity, and FineGrain outperforms StandardART. From the three investigated approaches, we conclude that FineGrain performed best and should be the first-choice method in pediatric patients.

Objectives: Auditory brainstem potentials can be elicited by electrical stimulation of the round window (RW). In this technique, extracochlear stimulation is objectively used in the selection of cochlear implant (CI) candidates to avoid cochlear damage. However, until now, its use is limited due to the large artifacts generated by electrical stimulation. Our objective was to obtain reliable and reproducible electrically evoked auditory brainstem responses (eEABRs) using a new method of stimulation., Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study including subjects who underwent electrical stimulation on RW during CI surgery between 2013 and 2016. A "Stimulator Box," which produces electric stimuli identical to those provided by a CI, and an evoked potential recording equipment were used. The results obtained with monopolar and bipolar electrodes were compared., Results: RW eEABR recordings of 49 subjects (mean age, 34 years) were characterized by their stability and by having wave V between 3 and 5.5 ms. A higher percentage of responses were obtained on increasing the phase duration instead of the pulse amplitude. A significantly greater percentage of positive responses were obtained using bipolar stimulation than using monopolar stimulation (p<0.001)., Conclusion: Using extracochlear electrical stimulation technique, described herein, and bipolar electrical stimulation probe allows for reliable and reproducible eEABR recordings in CI candidates.