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The relationship between the intraoperative ECAP threshold and postoperative behavioral levels: the difference
Takeshi Morita1, Yasushi Naito, Tomoko Hirai
1Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin Kawahara-cho Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan. morita@hs.m.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between electrically evoked compound-action potential (ECAP) thresholds, electrically evoked auditory brain-stem response (EABR) thresholds, behavioral thresholds (T levels) and maximum comfort levels (C levels) in profoundly deaf cochlear-implant users. The ECAP thresholds were measured intraoperatively in eight postlingually deafened adults and nine (eight prelingually and one postlingually deafened) children implanted with the Nucleus CI24 M cochlear implant. The mean ECAP thresholds did not differ between children and adults. The average behavioral T and C levels after at least 6 months of experience with a cochlear implant were significantly higher in children than those in adults. The ECAP thresholds were more strongly correlated with T and C levels in children than in adults. The stronger correlation between ECAP thresholds and behavioral T and C levels in children than in adults might result from differences in loudness sensation, which should in turn depend on auditory experience.