Cochlear implantation and rehabilitation in prelingually deafened adolescents and young adults

Objective To investigate the outcomes of prelingually deafened adolescents and young adults receiving cochlear implantation(CI).Methods Thirty-three patients with prelingual deafness aged 7-33 years at the time of CI were followed up for 4 years.The Speech Discrimination Score(SDS) was tested using disyllabic words and short sentences with close-set and open-set,respectively.Results After appropriate mapping,sound field audiometry with warble tone showed that the warble tone threshold average(WTA) of the patients reached 25-41 dBHL,with a mean threshold of 28.62±2.37 dBHL.At 1 year after the operation,the mean value of SDS was 70.03% in close-set word list with lip-reading and 61.18% without lip-reading,and was improved to 82.12% and 72.67% at 4 years,respectively.In open-set word list,the mean value of SDS was 77.94% with lip-reading and 67.85% without lip-reading.The safety and the benefits-cost evaluation of CI for prelingually deafened school age children and adolescents had been recognized by 90.9% of the families involved.Conclusion These patients can obtain appropriate speech discrimination scores with improved quality of life after CI.