Advantages of cochlear implantation in prelingual deaf children before 2 years of age when compared with later implantation.

Objectives: To compare the auditory abilities and speech performance of children with a profound prelingual bilateral hearing-impairment when subjected to a cochlear implant (CI) before or after 2 years of age. To analyze the complications that arose during, or as a result of, the implantation process in these groups.

Design: Prospective cohort single-subject, repeated-measures study of children with profound bilateral hearing impairment subjected to CI.

Prospective long-term auditory results of cochlear implantation in prelinguistically deafened children: the importance of early implantation.

The objectives of this study were to report the long-term auditory results of prelinguistically deafened children with bilateral profound hearing impairment treated with a cochlear implant (CI); to analyze the role of auditory stimulation in the development of communicating abilities in early implanted children; and to define the limits of the auditory critical period. It was designed as a prospective cohort single-subject repeated-measures study of children with bilateral profound hearing impairment treated with a CI at a tertiary referral center with a pediatric CI program since 1991. A total of 182 children with bilateral prelinguistic hearing impairment of profound degree treated with a Nucleus CI were enrolled in the study.