Cochlear implantation in children

Abstract

Cochlear implantation has revolutionized the treatment and prognosis of children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss who receive limited benefits from hearing aids. Children who receive cochlear implantation at young age, in particular before 2 years of age, can be expected to reach their normal age-equivalent developmental milestones and have higher chance to integrate into the mainstream educational settings. With the positive outcomes after cochlear implantation and the improvements in technology and surgical techniques, candidacy for cochlear implantation in children has been expanding to include hearing-impaired children with significant residual hearing, severe inner ear malformations, multiple handicaps such as mental retardation or visual impairment, and auditory neuropathy. Furthermore, there is growing interest in offering bilateral cochlear implantation to give children the benefits of binaural hearing. As the candidacy criteria expand, cochlear implant programs including preoperative evaluation, surgery, and habilitation have become more complex. Therefore, candidates should be selected prudently by multidisciplinary approach and cochlear implantation in children is much better to be provided by experienced cochlear implant team consisting of experts in relevant fields for the best results.