title: Bilateral cochlear implants in long-term and short-term deafness.
abstract: This case is of a 70-year-old man with single-sided deafness (SSD) in the right ear since childhood, who developed a sudden severe hearing loss in the left ear at the age of 63. Eventually, after he received cochlear implants in both ears, he started to present behavioural auditory  processing skills associated with binaural hearing, such as improved ability to understand speech in the presence of background noise, and sound localization. Outcomes were measured using cortical auditory evoked potentials, speech perception in noise, sound localization tests, and a self-rating  questionnaire. The results suggest that even after more than 50 years of unilateral deafness it was possible to develop binaural interaction and sound localization as a result of electric auditory stimulation.
authors.affiliation: Healthy Hearing & Balance Care, Australia. cmcneill@tpg.com.au
authors.forename: Celene
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McNeill
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Noble
authors.forename: Suzanne C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Purdy
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Mridula
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000368:Aged; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D046088:Hearing Loss, Unilateral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013017:Sound Localization; D013067:Speech Perception; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome