[Cochlear implants in children]

The development of surgically implantable hearing aids that are placed directly in the cochlea where they send electrical impulses to the cochlear nerve is a major break-through for patients whose hearing loss is so severe as to make conventional electroacoustic hearing aids ineffectual. Initially used only in adults, this method has gradually been extended to pediatric patients. To benefit from a cochlear implant, the patient must fulfill a number of criteria which are specified in this article. Following preoperative investigations, the decision is taken during a meeting of all the care providers involved, i.e., the surgeon, ENT phoniatrist or audiophonologist, hearing aid specialist, special education provider, speech therapist, psychologist, and other members of the health care staff. Team work is thus essential both before and after the procedure. The implant selected can be intracochlear or extracochlear and single-channel (one electrode) or multi-channel (several electrodes). Each team selects the implantation technique and type of implant they use according to their preferences and specific criteria. The authors use a multi-channel intracochlear system except in the rare instances where complete ossification of the cochlea requires use of an intracochlear mono-channel system. They have inserted implants in 29 patients to date. The cochlear implant has unquestionably had a significant impact of the life of these patients.