Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30323683›Full record

ArticleClinical epidemiology2018

Occurrence of primary brain tumors in cochlear implant patients in Sweden between 1989 and 2014.

Henrik Smeds, Jeremy Wales, Tiit Mathiesen, Mats Talbäck, Maria Feychting

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical epidemiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 51% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Henrik SmedsDepartment of Otolaryngology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, henrik.smeds@sll.se.
Jeremy WalesDepartment of Otolaryngology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, henrik.smeds@sll.se.
Tiit MathiesenDepartment of Neurosurgery, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Mats TalbäckUnit of Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Maria FeychtingUnit of Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Karolinska Institutet · SEKarolinska University Hospital · SEUniversity of Copenhagen · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeCochlear implants are widely used for hearing rehabilitation of deaf children with congenital deafness or adults with acquired severe-to-profound hearing loss. The sound processor antenna creates a radio frequency-electromagnetic field transmitting the sound signal to the implant, similar to that in a mobile phone. A recent case report suggested a relationship between cochlear implants and malignant glioma, and some epidemiological studies have suggested an increased glioma and acoustic neuroma risk associated with long hours of mobile phone use. An epidemiological study is warranted to evaluate such a relationship in patients with cochlear implants. PATIENTS AND

methodsTo examine whether this chronic radio frequency-electromagnetic field signaling is associated with an increased brain tumor risk, a population-based cohort study was performed examining all 2,748 patients receiving a cochlear implant in Sweden during the years 1989-2014. In all, 3,169 surgeries were performed in the total cohort. The expected occurrence of glioma, meningioma, and acoustic neuroma in the patient cohort was calculated using specific national incidence rates in the Swedish population.

resultsFour patients were diagnosed with a brain tumor during follow-up, three of them having meningioma compared with 0.95 expected (standardized incidence ratio =3.16, 95% CI 0.65-9.24), and one had glioma compared with 1.34 expected (standardized incidence ratio =0.75, 95% CI 0.02-4.15). No case of acoustic neuroma was observed compared with 0.09 expected.

conclusionIn this study, we did not find support for concerns raised in a previous case report regarding a potentially higher risk of glioma. The number of brain tumors observed was well within the numbers expected from national incidence figures. Although this was a relatively small cohort with a limited follow-up time, it is the largest epidemiological study to date to address this concern.

Indexed as

cochlear implantsglioblastomaneural tumornon-ionizing radiationradio frequency-electromagnetic radiation

Identifiers

PMID30323683
PMCPMC6179583
OpenAlexW2895131651

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.