Speech Recognition for Pediatric Electric-Acoustic Stimulation Users with Unilateral Hearing Loss

Pediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) and functional low-frequency acoustic hearing in the implanted ear could be fit with an electric-acoustic stimulation (EAS) device, which is the combination of acoustic and CI technologies in one device. Outcomes for this unique patient population are currently unknown. The present study assessed the speech recognition of pediatric EAS users with UHL.

Retrospective review.

Tertiary academic referral center.

Pediatric CI recipients with functional acoustic hearing in the implanted ear (i.e., ≤ 80 dB HL) and a contralateral pure-tone average (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) ≤ 25 dB HL.

Speech recognition was assessed with the consonant-nucleus-consonant (CNC) test for the affected ear preoperatively and at 6 and 12 months postactivation. Masked speech recognition was assessed with the Bamford-Kowal-Bench speech-in-noise test in the bilateral condition for three spatial configurations: target from the front and masker colocated with the target or presented 90° toward the implanted or contralateral ear.

Children experienced a significant improvement in CNC scores with EAS as compared to preoperative abilities with a hearing aid (F (2,7) = 10.0, p = 0.009). Preliminary masked sentence recognition data suggest a benefit in performance when the target was spatially separated from the masker, and a benefit with EAS as compared to an unaided listening condition.

Children with UHL and functional acoustic hearing in the implanted ear experience better speech recognition with EAS as compared to preoperative abilities or listening unaided.