Use of intraoperative neural response telemetry in the initial fitting of very young children: preliminary findings

Abstract This is a preliminary report of a large, prospective, randomized, and blind (to fitting method) multicentre study comparing the allocation of clinical time in the initial programming and postimplant performance between young children whose initial programmes (MAPs) were based on intraoperative neural response telemetry (NRT) measures and those with initial programming using behavioral measurements only. The intraoperative NRT test time averaged 15 min. A significantly reduced amount of time ( P =0.01) was found in fitting the initial four MAPs using the NRT method when compared with the time required to fit the first MAP created solely using behavioral methods. While the initial NRT MAP levels were more conservative than the initial behavioral MAP levels, the sound field threshold results confirm that the NRT-based MAPs are audible. At the 6-month stage, each subject was tested with their existing MAP and a new MAP created using the alternative fitting method. Thus far, equivalent results were achieved with the NRT and behavioral MAP regardless of the initial programming method.