Results following cochlear implantation and rehabilitation

Nine post-lingually deafened adults received single-electrode cochlear implants and afterwards participated in a rehabilitation program. For these nine patients the average threshold sensitivity in soundfield was significantly better with use of the cochlear prosthesis than with hearing aid amplification in the same ear prior to implantation. Significant changes also occurred in discrimination of environmental sounds, recognition of words and stress patterns, and in speechreading skill. Certain aspects of phonation (harshness, control of intensity, and habitual pitch). and some articulation problems improved, while inflection abnormalities were not altered. Data concerning daily hours of implant activation, an indicator of patient acceptance, reveal that seven of the nine use their cochlear prosthesis for at least eight hours per day. These results suggest that the single electrode cochlear implant is a clinically useful tool in the rehabilitation of selected profoundly deaf individuals.