Clinical Presentation, Management, and Outcomes of Idiopathic Pain in Percutaneous Bone-anchored Hearing Implants.

OBJECTIVE: To identify clinical features and investigate treatment outcomes of patients with idiopathic pain related to a percutaneous bone-anchored hearing implant (BAHI) and to propose management recommendations. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective chart analysis. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: The clinical data of 14 patients who were treated for idiopathic pain around their percutaneous BAHI between May 2007 and February 2018 at our tertiary referral center were reviewed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain after treatment and implant loss. RESULTS: All 14 patients received treatment with oral antibiotics. Nine patients received oral antibiotic combination therapy for 4 weeks, whereafter pain resolved in 4. Out of the five other patients, receiving either antibiotic monotherapy or shortened antibiotic combination therapy, pain resolved in two. In case of persistent pain (57.1%) after initial treatment, other pain management therapies were attempted, however all with only limited effect. Six patients (42.8%) underwent elective removal of the implant. In two patients spontaneous implant loss occurred. In two of the four patients who underwent reimplantation, pain relapsed. In one of these, pain resolved after the removal of the new implant. In the other patient, pain persisted, despite abutment removal. With exception of this latter patient, all other 13 patients were pain free at the latest follow-up. Cone beam computed tomography did not offer additional information regarding diagnosis or treatment. CONCLUSION: Idiopathic pain in BAHI is a rare but bothersome symptom which can result in implant removal. After oral antibiotic combination treatment, symptoms resolved in approximately 40% of patients. Therefore, we think conservative treatment with these antibiotics before implant removal surgery, is worth considering.

Circle of Willis Collateral Flow in Carotid Artery Occlusion Is Depicted by 4D-CTA.

BACKGROUND: In case of carotid artery occlusion, the risk and extent of ischemic cerebral damage are highly dependent on the pathways of collateral flow including the anatomy of the circle of Willis. In this report, cases are presented to illustrate that 4-dimensional computed tomography angiography (4D-CTA) can be considered as a noninvasive alternative to digital subtraction angiography for the evaluation of circle of Willis collateral flow. CASE DESCRIPTION: Five patients with unilateral internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion underwent 4D-CTA for the evaluation of intracranial hemodynamics. Next to a visual evaluation of 4D-CTA, temporal information was visualized using a normalized color scale on the cerebral vasculature, which enabled quantification of the contrast bolus arrival time. In these patients, 4D-CTA demonstrated dominant middle cerebral artery blood supply on the side of ICA occlusion originating from either the contralateral ICA or posterior circulation via the communicating arteries. CONCLUSIONS: Temporal dynamics of collateral flow in the circle of Willis can be depicted with 4D-CTA in patients with a unilateral carotid artery occlusion.