This study aimed to discover expert opinion on the surgical techniques and materials most likely to achieve maximum postoperative residual hearing preservation in cochlear implant (CI) surgery and to determine how these opinions have changed since 2010. A previously published questionnaire used in a study published in 2010 was adapted and expanded. The questionnaire was distributed to an international group of experienced CI surgeons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The aim of this study was to find out how candidacy criteria have evolved differently across the globe.
Methods: Candidacy criteria and outcome measurements applied in 19 HEARRING clinics were analyzed.
Results: Candidacy criteria vary between clinics.
Purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often used to visualize and diagnose soft tissues. Hearing implant (HI) recipients are likely to require at least one MRI scan during their lifetime. However, the MRI scanner can interact with the implant magnet, resulting in complications for the HI recipient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To provide multidisciplinary cochlear implant teams with a current consensus statement to support hearing preservation cochlear implantation (HPCI) in children, including those children with symptomatic partial deafness (PD) where the intention is to use electric-acoustic stimulation (EAS). The main objectives are to provide guidelines on who is a candidate, how to assess these children and when to implant if Med-El Flex electrode arrays are chosen for implantation.
Methods: The HEARRING group reviewed the current evidence and practice regarding the management of children to be considered for HPCI surgery emphasizing the assessment needed prior to implantation in order to demonstrate the benefits in these children over time.
Objectives: Cochlear implantation (CI) under local anaesthetic (LA) has previously been shown to be a successful and safe option for a specific group of patients (e.g. elderly and significant co-morbidity).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The diagnosis of non-organic hearing loss (NOHL) is a difficult but important issue during the assessment process for cochlear implantation (CI). We aim to identify the key factors in identifying patients with NOHL during CI assessment and present our local screening protocol for NOHL.
Methods: A retrospective review of patients referred to the Yorkshire Auditory Implant Service (YAIS) between 2003 and 2015 who were subsequently diagnosed with NOHL during the assessment.
Objectives: To determine and evaluate the time clinics needed to complete the sub-processes involved in the first-fitting and follow-up fitting of people with a cochlear implant.
Methods: Eight HEARRING clinics completed a questionnaire recording how long it took to complete the sub-processes involved in first-fitting and follow-up fitting cochlear implant recipients. The mean times of clinics and procedures were then compared.
Objectives: Both electrophysiological and behavioural studies suggest that auditory deprivation during the first months and years of life can impair listening skills. Electrophysiological studies indicate that 3½ years may be a critical age for the development of symmetrical cortical responses in children using bilateral cochlear implants. This study aimed to examine the effect of auditory experience during the first 3½ years of life on the behavioural spatial listening abilities of children using bilateral cochlear implants, with reference to normally hearing children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConclusion: Bone conduction implants are useful in patients with conductive and mixed hearing loss for whom conventional surgery or hearing aids are no longer an option. They may also be used in patients affected by single-sided deafness.
Objectives: To establish a consensus on the quality standards required for centers willing to create a bone conduction implant program.
Objective: To document changes in speech reception thresholds (SRTs) and spatial release from masking (SRM) for sequentially implanted children at 2 and 4 years after they received their second cochlear implant (CI2).
Methods: Participants were 17 children who consistently used two sequentially implanted and optimally programmed CIs. SRTs were measured monaurally in quiet and binaurally in noise using the adaptive McCormick toy discrimination test.
Objective: To assess the selection criteria, surgical technique, audiologic, and quality of life outcomes for a novel, nonpercutaneous bone conductor hearing aid.
Study Design: Retrospective case review.
Setting: Secondary otology practice.
Acute loss of vision accompanied by profound loss of hearing is fortunately rare, but has a catastrophic effect on both the patient and their family. Re-establishing communication and spatial awareness are high priorities. We describe the case of a 45 year-old man who presented as a result of poisoning by ethylene glycol.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCochlear implantation is effective at restoring partial hearing to profoundly deaf adults, but not all patients receive equal benefit. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a computer-based self-administered training package that was designed to improve speech perception among adults who had used cochlear implants for more than three years. Eleven adults were asked to complete an hour of auditory training each day, five days a week, for a period of three weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCochlear implantation has now become a routine procedure in the management of severe to profound deafness. An initial survey was carried out in late 1997 of the surgeons carrying out implantation in the United Kingdom and Ireland, requesting details of medical and surgical aspects of cochlear implantation. A follow-up survey was conducted in early 2002 to evaluate any changes in clinical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Analysis of the cost implications and reasons for nonuse of cochlear implants in an established cochlear implant unit.
Study Design: Clinical data were analyzed retrospectively to construct a table of cochlear implant use over time to identify nonuse and to suggest the reasons for this.
Setting: Yorkshire Cochlear Implant Service is a tertiary referral center.