gms | German Medical Science

83. Jahresversammlung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie e. V.

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie e. V.

16.05. - 20.05.2012, Mainz

Sequential cochlear implantation in a congenitally deaf adult after early initial implantation: a case report

Meeting Abstract

  • corresponding author presenting/speaker Alexandros Giourgas - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
  • Lutz Gärtner - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
  • Angelika Illg - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
  • Anke Lesinski-Schiedat - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany
  • Thomas Lenarz - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. 83rd Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. Mainz, 16.-20.05.2012. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2012. Doc12hno34

doi: 10.3205/12hno34, urn:nbn:de:0183-12hno344

Veröffentlicht: 23. Juli 2012

© 2012 Giourgas et al.
Dieser Artikel ist ein Open Access-Artikel und steht unter den Creative Commons Lizenzbedingungen (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.de). Er darf vervielfältigt, verbreitet und öffentlich zugänglich gemacht werden, vorausgesetzt dass Autor und Quelle genannt werden.


Gliederung

Text

Introduction: A high number of congenitally deaf young adults have been provided with a cochlear implant in their early childhood. In their later years, these patients often wish to become implanted sequentially. The providing clinicians face the challenge of a realistic prognosis.

Materials and Methods: We present the case of a young woman who suffered a congenital bilateral deafness due to a cytomegalus virus infection. No benefit could be obtained with the use of hearing aids. The patient was initially implanted on the right ear in an age of 2y; 8m. She received special oral training and achieved an according competence in the use of the German language. A sequential implantation followed at her own request in an age of 21y; 5m. Within a period of one year after the sequential implantation, her speech perception performance was measured, both, separately and bilaterally.

Results: Half a year after the first fitting of the second implant, the patient could understand 35% of the presented Freiburger Numbers in a presentation level of 65dB. One year after first fitting, she could reproduce 25% in the Freiburger Monosyllabic Word test (1. CI: 90%) and 39% of the HSM sentence test in quiet (1. CI: 100%). A bilateral benefit under noisy condition was measured. The patient also reported to have gained advantages in the localization of sounds.

Summary: The results indicate that, even with an extremely asymmetric auditory experience, the second implanted ear can benefit of the experience of the initially implanted ear. The sequentially implanted ear will assumingly not achieve the performance level of the earlier implanted one, but it will support the bilateral performance. The exact relevance of the initial age at implantation is to be examined. Nevertheless, an early initial implantation, and an auditory verbal education of the candidate seem to be of exclusive importance.