Otology & Neurotology · Jul 26, 2017

Stable Longitudinal Performance of Adult Cochlear Implant Users for More Than 10 Years

By Rak K, Schraven SP, Schendzielorz P et al.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the long-term performance of cochlear implant patients. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective longitudinal study. SETTING: Tertiary referral center with a large cochlear implant program. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Speech perception scores in quiet and in background noise in the short-term (1.12 ± 0.15 yr) and long-term (12.61 ± 2.34 yr) after implantation. PATIENTS: Fifty-eight implanted ears from 55 patients with a mean age of 51.80 ± 1.757 years at the time of implantation were included. RESULTS: Speech perception scores were stable in the long-term for up to 20 years postimplantation. When alteration of speech perception over time was investigated in relation to the age at implantation, there was a deterioration of the scores in quiet in older patients (>60 years old at the time of surgery). In addition the speech comprehension in noise was negatively correlated with the age at the time of the test. CONCLUSION: The speech perception abilities of cochlear implant users are stable in the long-term and at the most may be affected by the age of the patients, as it is known from acoustic hearing.

doi.org/10.1097/mao.0000000000001516PubMed 28742633Populations