This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • CME Course for This Article  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Cochlear Implantation  • Hearing Loss/ Deafness  • Pediatric Otolaryngology  • Pediatrics  • Congenital Malformations  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Neil K. Chadha, MPH, FRCS(ORL-HNS), MBChB(Hons); Adrian L. James, MBChB, DM, FRCS(ORL-HNS); Karen A. Gordon, PhD; Susan Blaser, MD; Blake C. Papsin, MD, FRCSC

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2009;135(9):903-909.

Objective  To outline clinical experience with bilateral cochlear implantation in children with cochleovestibular anomalies.

Design  A prospective cohort study with a mean follow-up of 12 months.

Setting  An academic, pediatric, tertiary referral center.

Patients  All eligible children were prospectively recruited from January 1, 2007, through October 31, 2008. Ten children aged 9 to 33 months who had congenital inner ear malformations, including common cavity, incomplete partition, and cochleovestibular hypoplasia, participated.

Interventions  Bilateral cochlear implantation was performed sequentially with an interimplantation delay greater than 2 years in 7 children and less than 1 year in 1 child. Bilateral simultaneous implantation was performed in 2 children.

Main Outcome Measures  Complications, hearing outcomes, and balance outcomes.

Results  All children underwent successful implantation. Five children had a perilymph "gusher" (on 1 side only), and there were no other complications. All children had 22 active electrodes bilaterally and achieved speech reception. All 8 children who underwent closed-set speech perception testing scored above 75%, and 5 of the 7 children who underwent open-set testing achieved scores above 75%. Despite variable vestibular function before bilateral implantation, no prolonged imbalance occurred, although 3 children (30%) had transient unsteadiness for up to 2 weeks after the second implantation.

Conclusions  Bilateral cochlear implantation was performed safely and successfully in children with a spectrum of bilaterally anomalous cochleovestibular anatomy. Hearing outcomes suggest that these children should not be excluded from undergoing bilateral implantation. This study provides guidance on candidacy issues, surgical decision making, and surgical techniques in this group.

Author Affiliations: Departments of Otolaryngology (Drs Chadha, James, and Papsin) and Radiology (Dr Blaser) and Cochlear Implant Program (Drs Chadha, James, Gordon, and Papsin), The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?