Bilateral sequential implantation in children

Abstract

Cochlear implants provide an electrical signal that may assist in the development of the central auditory system. In order to capitalize on the developmental processes associated with a maturing auditory system, many authors suggest cochlear implantation should be performed at very young ages. In order to examine the contributions associated with one versus two cochlear implants in young children, we examined performance over three years post-implantation in children who received sequential cochlear implants. Twenty-nine children sequentially implanted were studied. All children were implanted with Cochlear Corporation multichannel cochlear implants. Mean age at the first implantation was 2.31 years (range 1–9 years) and 7.55 years at the second implantation (range 3–15 years). Children were evaluated annually with audiometric thresholds and open-set speech perception testing. Data were examined in two ways. First, data acquired annually for the first three years post-implant were compared between the fir...