Director, Duke Cochlear Implant Program

• Surgery / Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
• Pediatrics / Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery

Address:
DUMC 3805
Durham, NC 27710

Appointment Telephone:
919-684-3834 or 1-800-385-3646

Office Telephone:
919-684-6968

Fax Telephone:
919-684-9108

• MD, University of Virginia School of Medicine, 1985

• Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Virginia, 1986-1990

• Otology/Neurotology/Skull Base Surgery, University of Michigan, 1990-1992

• MS, Audiology, University of Michigan, 1977

Clinical Interests:
Otologic, neurotologic, and skull-base surgery; evaluation and management of patients of all ages with hearing and balance disorders; middle-ear disease including tympanic membrane perforations; cholesteatoma; conductive hearing loss; evaluation of sensorineural hearing impairment and treatment with hearing aids and cochlear implants; temporal bone trauma and facial nerve injury; middle-ear and skull- base tumors such as glomus tumors and acoustic neuroma; evaluation and management of children with all ear-related diseases, including treatment of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss and middle-ear disease

Research Interests:

The focus of current research efforts is in defining the effects of conductive hearing impairment on the development and function of the central auditory system.  The ultimate goal of this research is to understand the impact of hearing loss, such as that associated with otitis media, on the development of auditory function in children.  Experiments are currently being performed in which central auditory system activity is studied using the 2-deoxyglucose method following unilateral neonatal conductive hearing loss.  Future experiments will examine changes in cell structure and interneuronal connections following acute and chronic conductive hearing loss in both neonatal and adult animals.

A second research program is focused on issues related to the cochlear implant.  The cochlear implant is a device which allows for electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve in profoundly deaf patients.  It has previously been demonstrated in animal studies as well as in human tissue histopathology that degeneration of central auditory pathways occurs following severe damage to the inner ear.  It has been suggested that the introduction of electrical stimulation via a cochlear implant may prevent or reverse some of these degenerative changes.  Experiments conducted previously examined this issue in the neonatally and adult deafened rat.  Tissue analysis is currently undergoing completion.

Representative Publications:
Tucci DL, Farmer JC Jr, Kitch RD, Witsell DL. Treatment of sudden sensorineural hearing loss with systemic steroids and valacyclovir. Otol Neurotol. 2002 May;23(3):301-8. (2002) Abstract

Cook RD, Hung TY, Miller RL, Smith DW, Tucci DL. Effects of conductive hearing loss on auditory nerve activity in gerbil. Hear Res. 2002 Feb;164(1-2):127-37. (2002) Abstract

Asaoka K, Barrs DM, Sampson JH, McElveen JT Jr, Tucci DL, Fukushima T. Intracanalicular meningioma mimicking vestibular schwannoma. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2002 Oct;23(9):1493-6. (2002) Abstract

Alexander MJ, Smith TP, Tucci DL. Treatment of an iatrogenic petrous carotid artery pseudoaneurysm with a Symbiot covered stent: technical case report. Neurosurgery. 2002 Mar;50(3):658-62. (2002) Abstract

Tucci DL, Cant NB, Durham D. Effects of conductive hearing loss on gerbil central auditory system activity in silence. Hear Res. 2001 May;155(1-2):124-32. (2001) Abstract

Tucci DL. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss: a viral etiology? Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2000 Sep;126(9):1164-5. (2000) Abstract