Cochlear implants in post-meningitis children

Abstract

Objective Establish if total ossification of the cochlea due to meningitis can represent an impediment for the development of speech recognition abilities in prelingual children comparing with other children that suffered the illness, but having normal cochleae. To establish the differences of information processing in these children. To establish the necessity of later specific treatments, a sample was taken from 28 children. The development of speech recognition abilities was evaluated at 36 months of C.I. use. The neurolinguistic levels evaluated were semantic lexical, grammar, phonologic, memory, perceptive functions and lecto-writing. Results The children with ossified cochleae displayed neurolinguistic handicaps that included difficulty in the resolution of visual operations, inadequate inhibition, labile attention, disruptive conduct, difficulties in understanding instructions, upheavals of memory, echolalia and difficulty for the lecto-writing. The evolution was slower, not acceding to Open Set. They attend special schooling, with support of specific therapy of language together with the auditory one. Conclusions The presence of total ossification and partial insertion was always accompanied by different degrees of difficulty in the processing of speech sounds, requiring special schooling and specific treatment of language. The development of abilities of speech perception was slower