PLoS ONE (Jan 2022)

Benefit of sequential bilateral cochlear implantation in children between 5 to 18 years old: A prospective cohort study.

  • W J Kleijbergen,
  • M Sparreboom,
  • E A M Mylanus,
  • G de Koning,
  • H W Helleman,
  • P P B M Boermans,
  • J H M Frijns,
  • J L Vroegop,
  • M P van der Schroeff,
  • E E J Gelders,
  • E L J George,
  • M J W Lammers,
  • W Grolman,
  • I Stegeman,
  • A L Smit

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271497
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 7
p. e0271497

Abstract

Read online

ObjectiveTo determine the benefit of sequential cochlear implantation after a long inter-implantation interval in children with bilateral deafness receiving their second implant between 5 and 18 years of age.Study designProspective cohort-study.SettingTertiary multicenter.Patients85 children with bilateral deafness and unilateral implantation receiving a contralateral cochlear implant at the age of 5 to 18 years.MethodThe primary outcomes were speech recognition in quiet and noise (CVC) scores. The secondary outcomes were language outcomes and subjective hearing abilities, all measured before and 12 months after sequential bilateral cochlear implantation. Medians of the paired data were compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Univariable linear regression analyses was used to analyze associations between variables and performance outcomes.ResultsA significant benefit was found for speech recognition in quiet (96% [89-98] vs 91% [85-96]; p ConclusionAfter 12 months of use, sequential bilateral cochlear implantation showed improved speech perception in quiet and noise and improved subjective sound quality outcomes in children despite a great inter-implantation interval (median of 8 years [range 1-16 years]).