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Cochlear implantation in children under the age of two years: candidacy considerations
1Advanced Bionics Corporation, Sylmar, CA 91342, USA.
Insights
Early cochlear implantation (CI) in children under 2 years old is increasing. This trend aims to optimize speech and language development by providing early auditory stimulation, though assessing candidacy in this age group presents challenges.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric audiology
- Speech-language pathology
- Otolaryngology
Background:
- Growing trend of cochlear implantation (CI) in children under 2 years old.
- Motivation is to leverage critical periods for speech and language development through early auditory stimulation.
- Challenges exist in determining audiologic candidacy and evaluating CI benefit in very young children.
Purpose of the Study:
- Discuss challenges in audiologic candidacy determination for pediatric CI.
- Evaluate methods for assessing auditory development in infants and toddlers.
- Present application of assessment procedures in a pediatric CI study.
Main Methods:
- Review of current trends and challenges in pediatric CI candidacy.
- Discussion of audiological assessment measures for young children.
- Case study presentation of the Clarion cochlear implant in a pediatric population.
Main Results:
- Specific audiological assessment measures are suitable for evaluating young children.
- Early auditory stimulation via CI can be beneficial for speech and language acquisition.
- The Clarion CI study demonstrated the application of these assessment procedures.
Conclusions:
- Developing appropriate assessment procedures is crucial for identifying CI candidacy in children under 2.
- Early identification and intervention through CI can significantly impact auditory development.
- Further research and evaluation of assessment tools are needed for this population.
Abstract:
Within recent years, there has been a growing trend to lower the age at implantation below 2 years in children. The motivation for this trend is to provide children with access to auditory stimulation as early as possible, thereby taking advantage of crucial periods for speech and language development. Determining implant candidacy in very young children, however, poses numerous challenges and requires the development and evaluation of assessment procedures appropriate for this population. Issues in determining audiologic candidacy and evaluating implant benefit in young children are discussed. Measures that can be used to assess auditory development in this population and the application of some of these procedures in the pediatric study of the Clarion cochlear implant (Advanced Bionics Corp., Sylmar, Calif.) are also presented.