A preliminary study of auditory mismatch response on the day of cochlear implant activation in children with hearing aids prior implantation.

Objective: The study aimed to explore the characteristics of auditory mismatch response (MMR) in hearing-impaired children on the day when the cochlear implant (CI) was started (power-up) and the speech processor was programmed, and to investigate the effects of wearing hearing aids (HAs) before cochlear implantation on the early stage of postoperative auditory cortex plasticity, providing some demonstrative data for the objective evaluation of postoperative early auditory ability in children who underwent cochlear implantation.

Methods: The participants were 34 children with profound sensorineural hearing loss, who underwent cochlear implantation. The classical passive Oddball paradigm was adopted, using a pair of vowels which only have different lexical tones. The standard stimulus was /a2/ and the devious stimulus was /a4/.

Results: 1) On the day of CI activation, the auditory MMR has been elicited in 30 children; the MMR incidence was 88%. 2) We observed both positive and negative auditory MMR waveforms. And logistic regression analysis showed that it was influenced by the age at cochlear implantation. 3) The duration with HA before surgery significantly influenced the MMR latency. The children with longer duration of HA use have much earlier latency of MMR. 4) There was a significant positive correlation between the age at HA use initiation and MMR amplitude. Earlier initial HA use was associated with smaller amplitude.

Conclusions: MMR in response to Mandarin lexical tone can be recorded in most pediatric patients who had experience with HA on the day of CI power up. MMR is closely associated with the age at cochlear implantation, duration of HA use, and the age at HA use initiation. Hearing-impaired children should wear HA as early as possible and ensure consistent usage.