Cochlear implantation at under 12 months: report on 10 patients

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Pediatric Otolaryngology
• Developmental Pediatrics

Background:

• Profound congenital hearing loss (CHL) significantly impacts auditory and language development in children.
• Early cochlear implantation (CI) is crucial for optimal auditory performance and language acquisition.
• Advances in audiology and CI safety have led to earlier implantation ages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of very early cochlear implantation (4-6 months) in infants with profound CHL.
• To assess the impact of early CI on auditory performance and speech development.
• To compare outcomes in very early implanted children with older children and normally hearing peers.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 10 infants (4-11 months) received cochlear implants (Nucleus CI 24 M).
• Auditory performance was assessed using the Category of Auditory Performance (CAP) scale.
• Speech development, including babbling onset and spurt, was compared to a control group of normally hearing children.

Main Results:

• Surgery was uneventful with no complications.
• All infants achieved a CAP score of 3 within 6 months post-activation.
• Early CI demonstrated a positive impact on babbling onset and spurt, with results approaching those of normally hearing children.

Conclusions:

• Very early cochlear implantation (4-6 months) is recommended to optimize developmental processes during the critical language acquisition period.
• Early CI facilitates the normalization of audio-phonologic parameters.
• Outcomes in very early implanted children suggest performance similar to their normally hearing peers.