Effect of pediatric bilateral cochlear implantation on language development

To examine spoken language outcomes in children undergoing bilateral cochlear implantation compared with matched peers undergoing unilateral implantation.

Case-control, frequency-matched, retrospective cross-sectional multicenter study.

Two Belgian and 3 Dutch cochlear implantation centers.

Twenty-five children with 1 cochlear implant matched with 25 children with 2 cochlear implants selected from a retrospective sample of 288 children who underwent cochlear implantation before 5 years of age.

Cochlear implantation.

Performance on measures of spoken language comprehension and expression (Reynell Developmental Language Scales and Schlichting Expressive Language Test).

On the receptive language tests (mean difference [95% CI], 9.4 [0.3-18.6]) and expressive language tests (15.7 [5.9-25.4] and 9.7 [1.5-17.9]), children undergoing bilateral implantation performed significantly better than those undergoing unilateral implantation. Because the 2 groups were matched with great care on 10 auditory, child, and environmental factors, the difference in performance can be mainly attributed to the bilateral implantation. A shorter interval between both implantations was related to higher standard scores. Children undergoing 2 simultaneous cochlear implantations performed better on the expressive Word Development Test than did children undergoing 2 sequential cochlear implantations.

The use of bilateral cochlear implants is associated with better spoken language learning. The interval between the first and second implantation correlates negatively with language scores. On expressive language development, we find an advantage for simultaneous compared with sequential implantation.