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Pediatric Auditory Brainstem Implantation: Impact on Audiological Rehabilitation and Tonal Language Development
Insights
Auditory Brainstem Implants (ABI) show promising results for pediatric hearing rehabilitation in Hong Kong. Continued ABI use improves speech development in children with profound prelingual deafness.
Area of Science:
- Otolaryngology
- Pediatric Audiology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Profound prelingual deafness presents significant challenges for pediatric audiological rehabilitation and language development.
- Auditory Brainstem Implants (ABI) offer an alternative for patients with cochlear nerve deficiency or malformations unsuitable for cochlear implants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of Auditory Brainstem Implants (ABI) on audiological rehabilitation and tonal language development.
- To assess speech development outcomes in pediatric patients with profound prelingual deafness rehabilitated with ABI in Hong Kong.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 11 pediatric patients (age 1.67-3.75 years) who received ABI between 2009 and 2015.
- Utilized standard pediatric cochlear implant outcome measurements, including sound detection, syllable/vowel/consonant identification, and tone production/imitation.
- Compared outcomes with age-matched pediatric cochlear implant users, focusing on Cantonese language rehabilitation.
Main Results:
- Encouraging speech development outcomes were observed, particularly with sustained ABI use.
- Significant variability in outcomes was noted, with poorer performance in children with coexisting cognitive disabilities.
- Audiological rehabilitation and speech perception showed improvement over time.
Conclusions:
- Auditory Brainstem Implantation (ABI) is a safe and effective treatment option for pediatric profound prelingual deafness.
- ABI facilitates audiological rehabilitation and speech development in Cantonese-speaking children.
- Individual patient factors, including cognitive abilities, influence ABI outcomes.
Objective:
This is a retrospective review of the impact of an Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI) on the audiological rehabilitation and tonal language development of pediatric patients with prelingual profound deafness in Hong Kong.
Results:
From January 2009 to February 2015, 11 pediatric patients with profound prelingual deafness received an ABI in Hong Kong (age range 1.67-3.75 years). Etiologies included Cochlear Nerve Deficiency in 7, Severe Cochlear Malformations in 2, and Retrocochlear Deafness in 2. All of them were rehabilitated in Cantonese, a dialect of Chinese. Standard pediatric cochlear implant outcome measurements were used in this study that comprised of the 7-Sound Detection, Syllable Identification, Vowel Identification, Consonant Identification, Tone Imitation, Tone Production and Speech Perception Category. Audiological rehabilitation and speech development outcomes were reviewed. Age-matched outcomes of pediatric cochlear implant users were used for comparisons.
Conclusion:
Encouraging results of speech development were found, especially with continued use of the ABI. There was considerable variation in outcomes. Children with coexisting developmental and nonauditory cognitive disabilities did not perform as well. Auditory brainstem implantation is a safe and beneficial treatment for profound prelingual deafness in Cantonese-speaking pediatric patients.
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