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Paul W. Bauer, MD; Anu Sharma, PhD; Kathryn Martin, MA, CCC-A; Michael Dorman, PhD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2006;132:1133-1136.

Objective  To examine the time course of maturation of P1 latencies in infant sequential and simultaneous bilateral cochlear implant recipients.

Design  Retrospective case series.

Setting  Pediatric collaborative cochlear implant program.

Patients  Four children who received bilateral cochlear implants prior to age 2 years.

Intervention  Cortical auditory evoked potential was completed to determine the latency of the P1 response in 4 children with bilateral cochlear implants.

Main Outcome Measures  Longitudinal development of the latency of the P1 cortical auditory evoked potential in children who received bilateral cochlear implants prior to age 2 years.

Results  In 2 patients who received sequential bilateral implants, P1 latencies recorded from the first implanted ear were within normal limits after 3 to 6 months of implant use. By comparison, P1 latencies from the second implanted ear reached normal limits as early as 1 month after implant use. In 2 patients who received simultaneous bilateral implants, P1 latencies from both ears were also within normal limits in a very short time frame (ie, by 1 month poststimulation).

Conclusions  Our data suggest a high degree of plasticity of the central auditory pathways after early bilateral implantation. We find that P1 latencies provide a clinically useful biomarker of central auditory system development in children after cochlear implantation.

Author Affiliations: Department of Otolaryngology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas (Dr Bauer); Department of Behavioral and Brain Science, Callier Advanced Hearing Research Center, University of Texas at Dallas (Dr Sharma and Ms Martin); and Department of Speech and Hearing Science, Arizona State University, Tempe (Dr Dorman). Dr Bauer is now with the Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Medical City Children's Hospital, Dallas. Dr Sharma is now with the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Science, University of Colorado at Boulder.