Speech perception outcomes after cochlear implantation in prelingually deaf infants: The Western Sicily experience

Abstract

Objectives: To describe audiometric characteristics and speech perception performances of prelingually deaf Sicilian children after cochlear implantation; to identify the influence of cochlear implant (CI) user and family's characteristics on speech recognition and intelligibility outcomes. Methods: Twenty-eight infants with a congenital or acquired hearing impairment and implanted before the 3rd year of life were studied; all children suffered from bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) with evidence of lack of hearing aids benefit and no evidence of intellectual disability. The study of the main characteristics associated with CI user and family's profile was performed with a clinical assessment including pre-implant and post-implant (1, 3, 6, 12 and 18 months) behavioural audiometry (evaluating average threshold for the frequencies 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 KHz) and speech recognition tests (IT-MAIS, MUSS, CAP and SIR). Results: Our cohort was characterized by an early diagnosis of SNHL (5.77 and 12.17 months for congenital and acquired HL respectively), a short length of deafness (average = 6.78 months) and an implantation before the 3rd year of life (mean = 24.25 months; range from 10 to 36). Analysis of audiometric threshold revealed a significantly improved capacity to detect sounds within the conversational speech spectrum after 12 months from implantation (r = 0.99; p < 0.001). The main speech recognition test evidenced speech perception and speech intelligibility performances (CAP median value of 3; SIR category = 3 in 46.42%) equal to those children with same characteristics reported by literature. With the exception of 'daily CI use' (p < 0.001), none of the variables associated with CI user and family's profile resulted significant predictor of speech perception improvement. Conclusions: This work demonstrates that all children of our cohort, with an early diagnosis of SNHL and a CI surgery performed before the 3rd year of life, presented a progressive audiometric and speech improvement through the first 12-18 months after cochlear implantation. The study also highlights that, differently from the others variables studied, a continuous CI use influences significantly speech perception and recognition outcomes

Speech performance in pediatric users of Nurotron® Venus™ cochlear implants

“…Scores of 3, 6 and 12 months post-implantation in current study were significant higher than that of Martines et al [32]. Direct comparison between the studies, however, is difficult considering the difference in age of implantation.…”

Habilidades auditivas e de linguagem de crianças usuárias de implante coclear: análise dos marcadores clínicos de desenvolvimento

“…Os resultados encontrados foram próximos aos de Manrique et al (2005), Rafferty et al (2013), Martines et al (2013), Umat et al (2010) e Li et al (2015). Manrique et al (2005) No caso de crianças pequenas, os benefícios da estimulação auditiva são primeiramente notados nas habilidades de produção da fala.…”

“…MUSS após 12 meses de uso do IC Martines et al (2013). ao analisar os dados de pacientes implantados antes dos 36 meses encontraram os seguintes resultados na MUSS: Ao compararmos o desempenho auditivo dos grupos, os resultados na IT-MAIS foram muito semelhantes durante os nove retornos e não foi possível identificar uma regularidade nas respostas.…”

Characteristics of Mandarin Open-set Word Recognition Development among Chinese Children with Cochlear Implants

“…Advances in CI technology and medical science have provided large improvements in the speech recognition of children with severe and profound congenital hearing loss. [ 1 2 3 4 ] Eisenberg et al . have proposed postoperative testing for children who receive CIs, which includes open-set word recognition assessment.…”