Cochlear implantations in visually impaired patients.
We retrospectively review the cases to evaluate the outcome of cochlear implantation (CI) in patients with severe-to-profound hearing loss and visual impairment (VI). Six adults with severe or profound hearing loss and significant VI underwent multichannel CI. Follow-up period ranged from 17 months to 7 years. Case history, etiology of visual and hearing loss, and benefit from CI were evaluated. To measure the outcomes, we selected the pure-tone thresholds with CI, the speech discrimination scores (SDS) using the Japanese video SDS system, the speech perception rates using the Japanese CD SDS system by monosyllable and word, and the open-set and closed sentence score using live voice. All the patients live happily after CI. There was no significant difference between the present six patients and the patients with profound hearing loss without VI in evaluations of hearing and quality of life. CI can play a significant rehabilitative role in patients with severe hearing loss and VI.
Takasaki
Kenji
K
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan. ktakasa@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp
Kanda
Yokihiko
Y
Kumagami
Hidetaka
H
Yashida
Haruo
H
Yamamoto-Fukuda
Tomomi
T
Miyamoto
Ikue
I
Takahashi
Haruo
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D019929:Cochlear Implantation / Q000295:instrumentation; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014792:Visual Acuity