Early Linguistic Developments of Simultaneous Bilateral Cochlear Implantees

Abstract

Background and Objectives The present study aimed to compare receptive and expressivelanguage development in children who have undergone simultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation(SCI) and those who have undergone bimodal stimulation (unilateral CI+ hearing aid).Subjects and Method In a retrospective analysis of clinical data, 15 pediatric patients whohave received SCI and nine patients who have received bimodal stimulation (BM group) wereenrolled. CI was performed for all patients at 24 months of age. Category of Auditory Performance(CAP) scores, Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (IT-MAIS) scores,and developmental quotients (DQ) for expressive and receptive language were compared betweenthe groups at 12 month of follow-up. The Percentage of Consonants Correct (PCC) ofchildren evaluated at 4 years old was also compared.Results At 12 months of follow-up, significantly greater improvements in CAP scores (Δ4.25±0.5) were noted in the SCI group compared to the BM group (Δ3.56±0.88, p=0.041). Significantlygreater improvements in IT-MAIS scores were also noted in the SCI group (Δ36.17±4.09) than in the BM group (Δ30.17±2.91, p=0.004). The DQ of receptive language was higherin the SCI group than in the BM group (87.6±15.4% vs. 75.5±12.0%, p=0.023) at 12 monthsof follow-up. Moreover, early SCI was associated with better receptive language skills. PCCindex of children at 4 years old was higher in the SCI group than in the BM group (88.5±13.2% vs. 62±15.8%, p=0.014). Earlier SCI was associated with even greater improvements.Conclusion Bilateral SCI is associated with significant improvements in language developmentwhen compared with bimodal stimulation. Earlier SCI was associated with better outcomes.