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Abstract

Introduction: Cochlear Implants (CI) have become standard in the treatment of prelingual, postlingual and perilingual deafness in children. Bilateral implants are considered standard for bilaterally affected children. Studies also find that the CI provides better access to speech for most children, and this access results in improved speech perception. In earlier times children who did not react to acoustic stimuli and were neither able to understand speech nor to acquire it spontaneously encountered severe discrimination, being dismissed as simple-minded or worse. Different studies broadly agree that one or two of every 1000 newborns have a hearing impairment that on current evidence warrants treatment or observation, i.e., permanent hearing loss with a lowering of the absolute threshold of hearing for speech perception by at least 35 dB. Approximately 50% of severe hearing impairments arising in the inner ear are thought to be hereditary in origin. When new Cochlear Implant (CI) sound processors are being introduced by the manufacturers, usually the newest generation implants benefit first from the new technology in order to release the full potential of the new hardware.

Objective: Evaluate the improvement of speech language and sound perception in patients with prelingual deafness that underwent cochlear implant using Advanced Bionics® device.

Method: Retrospective study of the medical records of the patients fitted with Advanced Bionics® cochlear implant in our institution between 2011 and 2012.

Results: Sixteen patients underwent to cochlear implantation using Advanced Bionics® devices. There were 43,75% prelingual and 43,75% postlingual patients with bilateral hearing loss. Mean age at implantation in the prelingual group was 3.6 years (ranged from 2 to 6 years). There was one case with medical history of deafness in family. All prelingual patients used hearing devices before the cochlear implant. The hearing levels improved after CI in all patients.

Conclusion: This study evaluated patients with pre-lingual deafness using the Advanced Bionics® cochlear implants demonstrated significant gains in neural stimulation and language development in children.