Cochlear implantation in children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder: A multicenter study on auditory performance and speech production outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the auditory performance and speech production outcome in children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD). The effect of age on the outcomes of the surgery at the time of implantation was also evaluated.

METHODS: Cochlear implantation was performed in 136 children with bilateral severe-to- profound hearing loss due to ANSD, at four tertiary academic centers. The patients were divided into two groups based on the age at the time of implantation; Group I: Children ≤24 months, and Group II: subjects >24 months. The categories of auditory performance (CAP) and speech intelligibility rating (SIR) scores were evaluated after the first and second years of implantation. The differences between the CAP and SIR scores in the two groups were assessed.

RESULTS: The median CAP scores improved significantly after the cochlear implantation in all the patients (p value < 0.001). The improvement in the CAP scores during the first year in Group II was greater than Group I (p value: 0.007), but the improvement in CAP scores tended to be significantly higher in patients who were implanted at ≤24 months (p value < 0.001). There was no significant difference between two groups in SIR scores at first-year and second-year follow-ups. The evaluation of the SIR improvement revealed significantly higher values for Group I during the second-year follow-up (p value: 0.003).

CONCLUSION: The auditory performance and speech production skills of the children with ANSD improved significantly after cochlear implantation, and this improvement was affected by age at the time of implantation.