[New method of partial deafness treatment].
At present, hearing loss is treated using prosthetic devices--either a hearing aid or a cochlear implant. Hearing aids are chiefly used for mild to severe hearing loss. In profound hearing loss and deafness, current treatment is based on cochlear implant placement. There is another large group of patients whose hearing impairment is characterized by normal or slightly elevated thresholds in the low-frequency band with nearly total deafness in higher frequencies. We propose to describe this type of hearing impairment as partial deafness. The patients in this group remain beyond the scope of effective treatment by hearing aids only. Such patients have not been considered before for cochlear implantation, because it was feared that this intervention would damage the functioning part of the cochlea. A new method for the treatment of partial deafness treatment was applied in the case of a young woman. A partially-inserted cochlear implant was used to restore hearing at high frequencies, while preserving low-frequency acoustic hearing in the implanted ear. The results demonstrate a substantial improvement in speech discrimination and communication skills when electric stimulation on one side was combined with acoustic stimulation on both sides.
Skarzyński
Henryk
H
Instytut Fizjologii i Patologii Słuchu w Warszawie.
Lorens
Artur
A
Piotrowska
Anna
A
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D019929:Cochlear Implantation / Q000379:methods; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D011182:Postoperative Care