AHL, SSD and bimodal CI results in children

ObjectiveThis article aims to demonstrate that children with asymmetric hearing loss (AHL), specifically those with single side deafness (SSD condition) and pure SSD, with substantial hearing (> 70% normal speech discrimination) in the ear with hearing aid (HA), obtain clinically relevant speech perception benefit after cochlear implantation in the contralateral side.ResultsRetrospective study of two groups: (1) 36 AHL children with bimodal hearing and (2) SSD children with SSD. They had follow-ups of 24 and 12 months duration, respectively. The AHL children where implanted on one ear and depending on the contralateral ear condition, they were divided into two groups: children who reach a disyllabic speech test score lower than 50% in quiet at 65 dB-SPL without lip reading (27) and children with test score higher than 70% (9). The second group consisted on 2 children implanted to obtain SSD condition, as preliminary data, with 1 year of follow-up. They showed benefits of binaural stimulation.ConclusionChildren in a bimodal situation, with substantial hearing (> 70% speech discrimination) in the ear with HA, obtain clinically relevant speech perception benefit after cochlear implantation in the contralateral side.