A 10-year in-depth follow-up of post-lingual hearing loss patients with Chinese domestic cochlear implants

Abstract

Background Follow-up of cochlear implant effectiveness is mainly focused on 3 years postoperatively, and studies with more than 5 years of observation are rare, especially for local Chinese brands. Objectives Nurotron (Chinese domestic cochlear implant brand) CI recipients who participated in the clinical trial in 2009 were followed-up for 10 years prospectively, providing data to guide doctors and patients. Material and Methods From December 2009 to April 2010, 57 subjects underwent Nurotron Venus CI surgery at multiple-centers, and were continued to be followed up and assessed at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 years after switch on. Results All recipients were successfully implanted with CIs with no difficulty in subsequent use with one reported case of re-implantation at 9 years after implantation. The aided hearing thresholds were significantly improved at one month after switch on (p < 0.0001) and remained stable afterwards for 10 years. Speech recognition scores were significantly higher than pre-operative results (p < 0.05) and continued to improve till 3 years after switch on. At 10 years post-operation, most subjects had improved QOL scores in most sub-items. Conclusions and Significance Nurotron Venus CI System provides long-term, stable results in hearing speech assistance capabilities and can improve the quality of life of CI recipients.