A clinical tool for the prediction of cochlear implantation outcomes

Introduction:

Due to technological und rehabilitative advances in the field of cochlear implants the indication criteria for implantation have been considerably extended over recent years. Nowadays it is common practice that patients with significant ipsilateral residual hearing become candidates for implantation. In order to assist the attending physician with choosing the best option for the individual patient, a clinical tool is developed that uses a statistical model to predict the probable outcomes of implantation with a cochlear implant based on preoperative patient data.

Methods:

Demographical data, pure tone and speech audiological data as well as anatomical data of cochlear implantation patients were collected at the Medical School Hannover. These data were analyzed in combination with data collected in the clinical routine with respect to their predictive power regarding cochlear implantation outcomes.

Results:

Preliminary results show that the intracochlear position of the electrode array and the cochlear coverage resulting from the position and the cochlear anatomy have an effect on postoperative speech reception. Furthermore it could be shown that preoperative results in the Oldenburg sentence test (OLSA) as well as factors like age and socio-economic status are good predictors of cochlear implantation outcomes.

Conclusions:

The preliminary results suggest that a statistical prediction of cochlear implantation outcomes is possible with the precision necessary for a clinical application. A prototype of a clinical tool will be tested in clinical practice as soon as possible.

Publication History

Publication Date:
18 April 2018 (online)