| Autor: |
Dillon MT; Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., Buss E; Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., Rooth MA; Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., King ER; Department of Audiology, UNC Health Care, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States., McCarthy SA; Department of Audiology, UNC Health Care, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States., Bucker AL; Department of Audiology, UNC Health Care, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States., Deres EJ; Department of Audiology, UNC Health Care, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States., Richter ME; Division of Speech & Hearing Sciences, Department of Allied Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., Thompson NJ; Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., Canfarotta MW; Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., O'Connell BP; Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., Pillsbury HC; Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., Brown KD; Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
| Abstrakt: |
A prospective clinical trial evaluated the effectiveness of cochlear implantation in adults with asymmetric hearing loss (AHL). Twenty subjects with mild-to-moderate hearing loss in the better ear and moderate-to-profound hearing loss in the poorer ear underwent cochlear implantation of the poorer hearing ear. Subjects were evaluated preoperatively and at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months post-activation. Preoperative performance was evaluated unaided, with traditional hearing aids (HAs) or with a bone-conduction HA. Post-activation performance was evaluated with the cochlear implant (CI) alone or in combination with a contralateral HA (bimodal). Test measures included subjective benefit, word recognition, and spatial hearing (i.e., localization and masked sentence recognition). Significant subjective benefit was reported as early as the 1-month interval, indicating better performance with the CI compared with the preferred preoperative condition. Aided word recognition with the CI alone was significantly improved at the 1-month interval compared with preoperative performance with an HA and continued to improve through the 12-month interval. Subjects demonstrated early, significant improvements in the bimodal condition on the spatial hearing tasks compared with baseline preoperative performance tested unaided. The magnitude of the benefit was reduced for subjects with AHL when compared with published data on CI users with normal hearing in the contralateral ear; this finding may reflect significant differences in age at implantation and hearing sensitivity across cohorts. |
