Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 29, 2026
Robotic Cochlear Implantation for Direct Cochlear Access
Published on: June 16, 2022
Postoperative Outcomes With Bimodal Hearing and Bilateral Cochlear Implantation in the Elderly
William G Cohen1, Ankita Patro1, Michael W Canfarotta1
1Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
Objective:
To compare speech recognition and quality of life outcomes in elderly patients with bimodal hearing and bilateral cochlear implants (CIs).
Study Design:
Retrospective cohort.
Setting:
Tertiary referral center.
Patients:
Adults older than 65 years with preoperative AzBio sentences in quiet scores <60% bilaterally who underwent cochlear implantation between 2012 and 2021.
Main Outcome Measures:
Consonant-nucleus-consonant (CNC), AzBio sentences in quiet, and Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) scores.
Results:
Two hundred fifty-eight patients met the inclusion criteria, of whom 227 (88.0%) were bimodal hearing, and 31 (12.0%) underwent bilateral cochlear implantation. Bimodal patients were older than bilateral at the time of initial implant [76 (71 to 82) vs 74 (70 to 77), P = 0.03] and had a lower contralateral pure tone average [77 (65 to 90) vs 87 (73 to 100), P = 0.04]. All other preimplant testing was similar. Twelve months after initial implant, those who ultimately pursued a second implant had greater device usage ( P = 0.03 ) but similar preoperative audiometric evaluations. At 12 months post-second implant, bilateral CI users had higher bilateral AzBio scores in quiet [87 (77 to 94) vs 77 (58 to 88), P = 0.05] but were otherwise similar to bimodal users. Multivariable regression demonstrated age at first implant as the only predictor of audiometric outcomes.
Conclusions:
Elderly bilateral CI patients have improved sentence recognition outcomes one year postoperatively compared with elderly bimodal patients. Bilateral CI patients performed similarly after first versus second implant.
