Objective: To examine speech intelligibility in children subjected to sequential bilateral cochlear implants (CI) surgery and to assess the influence of the inter-stage interval duration.
Introduction: Binaural hearing recovery can have additional benefits, especially in speech and language development in patients with congenital profound sensorineural hearing loss; so recently there has been an increase in the number of children receiving bilateral CI.
Methods: Twenty-seven children who underwent sequential bilateral cochlear implant (SBCI) with a short (1-3 yrs), medium (4-6 yrs) and long (7-12 yrs) range interval between both implantations, respectively, were evaluated. All patients underwent periodic speech perception test in quiet and noise after second implant activation in three conditions: with the first or second implant alone and with both implants. Results were examined according to the inter-stage interval.
Results: Speech intelligibility in noise was significantly better under bilateral conditions than either ear alone, in all three groups. Small improvements were seen in quiet, especially in the third group (6-12 yrs).
Conclusion: Benefits of second implant in the early-implanted children and after a short inter-implant delay are more evident. However our study support that, even after a long period of deafness and despite a prolonged inter-stage interval, sequential bilateral cochlear implantation should be considered.
Level of evidence: Level 4.
Keywords: Inter-implant interval; Sequential bilateral cochlear implant (SBCI); Speech intelligibility.
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