Cochlear Implantation in a Late-Implanted Prelingual Child: A Case Report

Abstract

Objective – To evaluate outcomes of unilateral cochlear implantation (CI) in a late implanted patient. Study Design - Prospective Case study. Subject - A young 12 yrs. old girl with congenital bilateral ‘severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss’ with Speech & language delay. Intervention – Unilateral Cochlear Implant with Neubio BOLD CI system done at the age of 11yrs. Main Outcome Measures-“Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale” (MAIS), “Revised Categories of Auditory Perception” (Revised CAP), “Speech Intelligibility rating” (SIR) & Child using hearing Devices QOL (cuHDQOL) are used to evaluate the results of the cochlear implantation. Results – All four “Revised CAP”, “SIR”, “MAIS”, and cuHDQOL scores the patient's quality of life improved over time as a result of auditory and speech and language rehabilitation. Conclusion - This observational case report has shown that cochlear implantation in a late implanted child beyond the critical period of language development may provide benefits in communication and listening skills and may improve the quality of life related to hearing.