Article
Does residual hearing in the non-implantat ear influence the postoperative performance after Cochlear Implantation?
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Published: | August 3, 2011 |
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Introduction: : In asymmetric hearing loss often the worse-hearing ear received a cochlear implant. Aim of the study was to investigate if residual hearing in the non-implanted ear has influence on the postoperative speech comprehension.
Material and Methods: Between 2007 and 2009 seventy-two postlingually deafened adults received a unilateral cochlear implant at our clinic. Patients were divided into two groups according to the preimplantation pure-tone averages: bilateral profound, profound in one ear /severe in the other. There was no significant difference in the age at implantation and duration of deafness among the two patient groups. Language skills and audiological data were assessed by standard tests (Freiburg words/numbers test, Oldenburg Sentence Test, Aachen test for aphasia).
Results: :The group with bilateral profound hearing loss performed poorer in all above-mentioned tests compared with the patients with residual hearing in the non-implanted ear.
Conclusion: The presence of residual hearing in at least one ear is associated with better speech discrimination results with cochlear implant. There is no apparent disadvantage to implantation in the worse-hearing ear in patients with asymmetrical hearing loss.