2005, Number 4
Cochlear implants. Experience at the General Hospital of Mexico (Hospital General de México)
Cuevas RB, Fajardo AG, Canseco CMP, López UA, Chavolla MR
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Language: Spanish
References: 19
Page: 88-91
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ABSTRACT
Hypothesis: Patients with profound, bilateral, prelingual or postlingual neurosensory hypoacusis reach acceptable hearing levels, as demonstrated by pure-tone audiometry, and can communicate adequately with optimal postoperative follow-up, auditory rehabilitation and speech therapy.Proposal: To report the comparative results of free field audiometers post-implantation, preoperative audiometry of the right and left ears and gain with external hearing aid, obtained at the department of otorhinolaryngology and head and neck surgery by patients who received implants between February 2000 and February 2003.
Material and method: Twenty-one postoperative patients received cochlear implants; 17 were males and 4 were females. Age limits were: 2 years 6 months, and 54 years 8 months, with an average of 20 years. Medical records were considered only if they included the following: complete clinical history, radiographic and medical evaluation with particular interest in the otorhinolaryngological, audiological, phoniatric, and psychopedagogical areas, and with respect to surgical time, audiologic follow-up and rehabilitation at the hospital unit.
Results: In the prelingual patient group: 10 had an adequate level of comprehension, 2 had an adequate detection level and 2 had adequate telephone conversation. In the postlingual patient group, 7 had adequate levels of comprehension, detection and telephonic conversation.
Conclusions: Cochlear implants represent the most significant technological advancement in recent years because they provide valid acoustic information to patients with profound bilateral sensory deafness. The causes of profound bilateral hypoacusis were: hyperbilirubinemia, autoimmune, congenital, or multifactorial disorders, otosclerosis, viral infections, use of ototoxics, meningitis, maternal rubeola, measles, and unknown. In postlingual children, cochlear implants not only restore auditory function but also improve language. In pediatric patients with prelingual hypoacusis, cochlear implants permit the perception of sounds, provided that there is also adaptation on the part of the patient to acquire verbal comprehension and appropriate speech; this, without doubt, improves quality of life. The evolution of language with the cochlear implant is a difficult process involving phases of discrimination, recognition, identification and comprehension.
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