The development of auditory perception in children following cochlear implantation

• Published in: International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology Vol. 49; pp. S189 - S191
• Main Authors: Nikolopoulos, Thomas P, Archbold, Sue M, O’Donoghue, Gerard M
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ireland Ltd 05.10.1999; Elsevier
• Subjects: Auditory Perception; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Cochlear implant; Cochlear Implantation; Deafness - physiopathology; Deafness - therapy; Ear, auditive nerve, cochleovestibular tract, facial nerve: diseases, semeiology; Follow-Up Studies; Head and neck surgery. Maxillofacial surgery. Dental surgery. Orthodontics; Hearing; Humans; Medical sciences; Non tumoral diseases; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Outcome; Prospective Studies; Speech Perception; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Surgery of the ear, the auditive nerve and the facial nerve; Cochlear implant; Children; Outcome; Auditory perception; Speech perception; Human; Postoperative; Prognosis; Speech Perception Test; Prelanguage; Internal ear disease; Auditory disorder; Prospective; Treatment; Surgical implantation; Surgery; Cochlea; ENT disease; Perception hearing loss; Perception; Rehabilitation; Child; Sensory hearing loss
• ISSN: 0165-5876; 1872-8464
• DOI: 10.1016/S0165-5876(99)00158-5

The time course for the development of auditory perception in prelingually deaf children following cochlear implantation may extend over many years, thus making long-term studies necessary to evaluate any such outcome. However, few such studies exist in the literature. We prospectively followed-up a consecutive group of 133 prelingually deaf children up to 6 years following implantation. All children were prelingually deaf with age at onset of deafness <3 years and age at implantation <8 years. The aetiology of deafness was meningitis for 45 children (34%), congenital deafness for 77 children (58%) and other causes for 11 children (8%). All were implanted with a Nucleus-22 multi-channel cochlear implant and followed the same rehabilitation programme. No child was lost to follow-up and there were no exclusions from the study. Prelingually deaf children showed significant improvement in the auditory perception with implant experience. 82% of children who reached the 6-year interval could understand conversation without lip-reading. The respective percentage in the 4-year interval was 70%. The long-term results of cochlear implantation reveal that the majority of prelingually deaf children, when implanted before the age of 8 years, will develop significant auditory perception.