Adaptation of the Standardized Hearing Outcomes Scattergram to Hearing Preservation in Cochlear Implantation.

Abstract

Encourage adaptation of a standardized format for reporting hearing preservation outcomes in cochlear implantation (CI). Retrospective chart review. Tertiary referral center. One hundred seventy-eight postlingually deafened adults with bilateral SNHL and a preoperative low-frequency pure-tone average (LFPTA) 80 dB HL or better at 125, 250, and 500 Hz in the ear to be implanted. Subjects underwent unilateral CI from 2013 to 2019 at a large referral center. Pre- versus postoperative LPFTA was used to generate a scattergram. Pre- versus postoperative activation LPFTA, percentage of patients fit with electric and acoustic stimulation, scattergram plot. Average postoperative LFPTA was 68.6 dB HL (range 18-68) compared with 48.7 dB (range 5-80), preoperatively. At activation, the average LFPTA shift at CI activation was 20.5 dB HL (range 0-60) and 83.5% (n = 137) patients had hearing preserved, of whom 41.6% were fit with electric and acoustic stimulation throughout the study period. The scattergram successfully illustrates the distribution and number of patients with their respective audiometric outcomes. The scattergram developed for reporting hearing outcomes in clinical trials is highly adaptable to reporting hearing preservation results in cochlear implant surgery. It represents a transparent and accessible option for reporting outcomes that can be used as a consistent format to allow for interstudy comparison and future meta-analysis.