Three-year postimplantation auditory outcomes in children with sequential bilateral cochlear implantation.
OBJECTIVE
We report on the auditory abilities and speech performance in quiet and noise of 35 children with sequential bilateral cochlear implantation after 3 years of bilateral implant use.


METHODS
Testing was done in bilateral and both unilateral listening conditions. The assessments took place before the second implantation and at several time intervals after fitting. As different auditory tests were used, the children were categorized by their age at the second implantation: younger or older than 6 years.


RESULTS
The pure tone averages for the bilateral condition were significantly better than those for either unilateral condition after 12 months of bilateral implant use and remained so from that test interval onward. The speech recognition outcomes in quiet and noise also improved significantly for almost all children after 36 months, although a linear regression analysis showed a beneficial effect of younger age at first implantation on the speech-in-noise results.


CONCLUSIONS
Bilateral cochlear implantation offered advantages to all children in comparison with the first implant--even the children who received the second implant after the age of 6 years. Compared to the younger children, the older children needed a longer adjustment period to gain bilateral benefit. However, they obtained similar results after 2 years of bilateral implant use.
Scherf
Fanny
F
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp University, Edegem, Belgium.
Van Deun
Lieselot
L
van Wieringen
Astrid
A
Wouters
Jan
J
Desloovere
Christian
C
Dhooge
Ingeborg
I
Offeciers
Erwin
E
Deggouj
Naïma
N
De Raeve
Leo
L
Wuyts
Floris L
FL
Van de Heyning
Paul
P
D000367:Age Factors; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019929:Cochlear Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013067:Speech Perception; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test; D016896:Treatment Outcome