Clinical results of the French multichannel cochlear implant

Clinical assessment and results are described in 66 patients (among them 20 were less than 20 years old). Voice changes may be objectively observed on sonograms. Phonetic discrimination depends on the electrical and nervous status of the implanted deaf cochlea. Discrimination of words and sentences with reference list, but without lipreading, is commonly obtained. Discrimination of unknown words is more difficult and varies from one patient to the other. Discrimination with lipreading progress elicited by the device depends on the pre-operative status and the own possibilities of each patient. Psychoaffective improvement is evident in every case, especially in 3 cases of autistic deaf-mute children. We shall try to summarize the efficacity of the French 12-channel cochlear implant regarding the clinical results we obtained in 66 patients who have been implanted between October 1976 and September 1983. Among them, 39 suffered from pre-lingual deafness and 27 from post-lingual deafness.