Single-centre experience and practical considerations of the benefit of a second cochlear implant in bilaterally deaf adults

Abstract

Purpose Bilateral cochlear implant (CI) implantation is increasingly used in the auditory rehabilitation of bilaterally deafened adults. However, after successful unilateral implantation, objective patient counselling is essential. Methods We investigated the extra benefit of a second CI in adults in terms of health-related quality of life, tinnitus, stress, anxiety, depression, quality of hearing, and speech recognition. Hearing ability was assessed by using the Freiburg monosyllable speech discrimination test (FB MS) and the Oldenburg sentence test with azimuth variations. In a prospective patient cohort, we administered validated questionnaires before a CI, after a first CI and after a second CI implantation. Results The study included 29 patients, made up of nine women and 20 men. The median time between the first and the second implantation was 23 months. The mean total NCIQ score and TQ before a CI improved significantly after both implantations. Stress, anxiety, and depression were stable over time and were not significantly affected by CI implantations. Speech recognition with noise significantly improved after the first and again after the second CI. Correlation analysis showed a strong connection between auditory performance and HRQoL. Conclusion We demonstrated that a unilateral CI benefitted many fields and that the second sequential CI leads again to additional improvement. Bilateral CI implantation should, therefore, be the standard form of auditory rehabilitation in deafened adults.

Effects of auditory rehabilitation with cochlear implant on tinnitus prevalence and distress, health-related quality of life, subjective hearing and psychological comorbidities: Comparative analysis of patients with asymmetric hearing loss (AHL), double-sided (bilateral) deafness (DSD), and single-sided (unilateral) deafness (SSD)

“…6 months after CI, in the AHL and SSD groups, we observed the same correlation pattern between TQ and other variables: a positive correlation with PSQ, GAD-7, and ADS-L and a negative correlation with NCIQ. As for the DSD group, no significant correlations were detected between TQ and any other variables, confirming our earlier published observation ( 57 ). These results suggest that the number of analyzed CI candidates with DSD and tinnitus should be increased in the future.…”

Effectiveness of tinnitus therapy using a mobile application

“…Cochlear implants (CIs) prove to be a very effective treatment which restores their ability to hear [40]. There is also the side-effect that a CI reduces tinnitus in around 90% of subjects and even eliminates it in around 20% [41][42][43][44]. These numbers might be improved even further, and therefore, CI users might also be potential users of mobile applications for tinnitus.…”

Validierung und Reliabilitätsprüfung des Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire in deutscher Sprache

“…Dass die deutsche Version des NCIQ das zu messende Merkmal korrekt erfasst und somit inhaltsvalide ist, können wir durch die übereinstimmenden Ergebnisse mit weiteren Vorarbeiten [ 5 , 20 , 22 , 25 , 27 , 44 , 45 ] bestätigen, die allesamt eine verbesserte Lebensqualität mittels des deutschsprachigen NCIQ infolge einer Cochleaimplantation zeigten. Kliniker und politische Entscheidungsträger haben mittlerweile erkannt, dass Veränderungen der Lebensqualität oder des Gesundheitszustands eines Patienten das primäre Ziel medizinischer Interventionen sind.…”