Obustronne implantacje ślimakowe - doświadczenia własne

Cochlear implants programme in Poznań started in 1994 and till now consists of over 1020 systems (including 29 hybrid ones). Bilateral implantations were done in 25 patients, including 5 simultaneous and 20 sequential implantations. Simultaneous implantations were performed in 3 cases with radiological symptoms of cochlea fibrosis/ossification (meningitis, temporal bone trauma) and in 2 cases due to vision loss in Usher syndrome. Sequential implantations were performed in 3 adults (in 2 due to intensive tinnitus, in 1 to improve sound localisation) and in 17 children (in 1 due to vision loss, in 2 due to skin flap problems and in 14 to improve sound localisation and speech discrimination in noise). The time interval between surgeries in the group of 14 children was 1 year 7 months till 12 years 4 months (average 3 years 10 months). All the children in this group use both devices for all the time - from the speech processor switch-on they used second device for the whole day. More observations and rehabilitation results are required to acquire experience from bilateral implantations in small children in the developmental age.