Cochlear implant in patients with single sided deafness: hearing results and communicative benefits

Abstract

Objective: Evaluate auditory results and communicative benefits in adult patients with single-sided deafness (SSD) treated with cochlear implantation.

Study Design: Observational descriptive case series.

Setting: Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá.

Patients: Ten patients with profound post-lingual SSD were treated with cochlear implantation between January 2011 and March 2016. Two patients were excluded because of incomplete follow-up.

Interventions: Medical records included demographic information, pre and post-operative audiometric results, and binaural and monoaural speech discrimination tests in three sound-in-noise configurationswith the cochlear implant turned on and off, respectively. Subjective improvement was evaluated using the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) and Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ-B).

Main Outcome Measures: Pre and post-operative audiometric and speech discrimination results, post-operative binaural and monoaural speech discrimination in noise results, and APHAB and SSQ-B questionnaire results.

Results: Significant improvement in speech discrimination in a noisy environment was found when the noise and signal were presented from the front, and when the signal was presented to the implanted ear and the noise to the healthy ear. SSQ-B questionnaire showed improvement in all subscales, while APHAB showed improvement in all subscales except sound aversion.

Conclusion: Patients with SSD showed improvement regarding communication skills and sound discrimination in a noisy environment.

Keywords:

• Hearing
• Hearing loss
• Unilateral
• Hearing loss
• Sensorineural
• Hearing aids
• Cochlear implants

Acknowledgements

To the Research Division of the Fundación Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud (FUCS) for their collaboration in the development of this project. To Professor Liceth Villamizar for her methodological advice and Professor Cesar Piñeros for his statistical guidance.

Notes on contributors

Juan M. García MD, Otolaryngologist and Otologist. Head Section of Otolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá. Clinical Professor, School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. Associate Professor, Otolaryngology and Otology Service, Hospital San José, School of Medicine, Fundación Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud (FUCS).

Diana Paola Urquijo MD, Fellow of Otology and Otoneurology, Fundación Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud (FUCS).

Mauricio Puerta MD, Otolaryngologist, Fundación Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud (FUCS).

César Augusto Mosquera MD, Otolaryngologist and Otologist. Otolaryngology Department, Hospital Federico Lleras Acosta, Ibagué, Colombia.

Lina María Hernández, Audiologist. Otolaryngology Section: Cochlear Implant program, Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia.

María Leonor Aparicio, Audiologist. Otolaryngology Section: Cochlear Implant program, Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia.

Clemencia Barón, Audiologist. Otolaryngology Section: Cochlear Implant program, Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia.

Ana M. Otoya MD, Fellow of Otology and Otoneurology, Fundación Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud (FUCS).

Augusto Peñaranda MD, Otolaryngologist and Otologist, Otolaryngology Section, Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá. Clinical Professor, School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. Clinical Epidemiologist, Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia.

ORCID

Juan M. García http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7908-9591

Diana Paola Urquijo http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1098-2557

Mauricio Puerta http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8650-563X

Ana M. Otoya Tono http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6003-3678

Augusto Peñaranda http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1598-8472