Evaluation of Long-Term Cochlear Implant Use in Subjects With Acquired Unilateral Profound Hearing Loss: Focus on Binaural Auditory Outcomes.

INTRODUCTION: Cochlear implantation (CI) in subjects with unilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss was investigated. The authors of the present study demonstrated the binaural auditory outcomes in a 12- and 36-month prospective cohort outcome study. The present study aimed to do a long-term (LT) evaluation of the auditory outcomes in an analogous study group.

DESIGN: LT evaluation was derived from 12 single-sided deaf (SSD) CI recipients and from 11 CI recipients with asymmetric hearing loss (AHL). A structured interview was conducted with each subjects. Speech perception in noise and sound localization were assessed in a CIOFF and in a CION condition. Four binaural effects were calculated: summation effect (S0N0), squelch effect (S0NCI), combined head shadow effect (SCIN0), and spatial release from masking (SRM). At the LT evaluation, the contribution of a CI or a bone conduction device on speech perception in noise was investigated in two challenging spatial configurations in the SSD group.

RESULTS: All (23/23) subjects wore their CI 7 days a week at LT follow-up evaluation, which ranged from 3 to 10 years after implantation. In the SSD group, a significant combined head shadow effect of 3.17 dB and an SRM benefit of 4.33 dB were found. In the AHL group, on the other hand, the summation effect (2.00 dB), the squelch effect (2.67 dB), the combined head shadow effect (3.67 dB), and SRM benefit (2.00 dB) were significant at LT testing. In both the spatial challenging configurations, the speech in noise results was significantly worse in the condition with the bone conduction device compared with the unaided condition. No negative effect was found for the CION condition. A significant benefit in the CION condition was found for sound localization compared with the CIOFF condition in the SSD group and in the AHL group.

CONCLUSION: All subjects wore their CI 7 days a week at LT follow-up evaluation. The presence of binaural effects has been demonstrated with speech in noise testing, sound localization, and subjective evaluation. In the AHL group, all investigated binaural effects were found to be significant. In the SSD group on the other hand, only SRM and the head shadow, the two most robust binaural effects, were significantly present. However, it took 12M before the SSD and the AHL subjects significantly benefit from the head shadow effect. These reported results could guide counseling of future CI candidates with SSD and AHL in general.