Further Evidence for Individual Ear Consideration in Cochlear Implant Candidacy Evaluation

Objective To report speech outcomes after cochlear implantation (CI) for asymmetric hearing loss (AHL) and assess the influence of contralateral hearing. Study Design Retrospective review. Setting Tertiary referral center. Patients One hundred eighty-eight adults (mean age, 70 yr) undergoing CI for AHL from 2015 to 2020. Candidacy included pure-tone average (PTA) at least 70 dB hearing level and AzBio in quiet 60% or less in the implanted ear and AzBio in quiet greater than 40% in the contralateral ear. Main Outcome Measures PTA; Consonant-Nucleus-Consonant (CNC) word, AzBio sentences scores; Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ). Results Mean preoperative PTA and AzBio in the implanted and contralateral ears were 85.2 and 68.1 dB hearing level and 24.7% and 69.2%, respectively. Mean CNC in the implanted ear increased from 18.3% preoperatively to 44.4% (p
Source: Otology and Neurotology - Category: ENT & OMF Tags: COCHLEAR IMPLANTS Source Type: research