RESUMO
Three different tests are applied to evaluate the performance of very young hearing impaired children. Three subgroups were formed according to hearing loss. The sound identification test as well as the Reynell Developmental Scales proved to be useful but Early Scales of Communication did not differentiate well enough between the three subgroups.
Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva , Surdez/reabilitação , Auxiliares de Audição , Transtornos da Audição/terapia , Comportamento Verbal , Estudos de Casos e Controles , Pré-Escolar , Seguimentos , Humanos , Lactente , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
Basal auditory functions and early verbal communication skills were examined in young, profoundly deaf children with hearing aids or a cochlear implant. The hearing aid users (n = 23) were subdivided on the basis of their (unaided) hearing thresholds into: group A (pure tone average (PTA) at 0.5, 1 and 2 kHz: 90-100 dB HL); group B (PTA: 100-110 dB HL); and group C (PTA > 110 dB HL). All the children with a cochlear implant (n = 20) had a profound sensorineural hearing loss with a PTA that exceeded 120 dB HL. Functional hearing was evaluated by means of basal sound identification. The child's communication abilities with hearing aids or a cochlear implant were assessed using structured observations on the Scales of Early Communication Skills for Hearing Impaired Children. The basal auditory functions on a sound identification level improved over time in the cochlear implant users and groups A and B. Hardly any improvement was seen in group C. The performance of all the groups (either hearing aid or cochlear implant) on the Scales of Early Communication Skills for Hearing Impaired Children at 6 months after fitting the device and at later evaluations, was close to the average level for their age.
Assuntos
Implante Coclear , Auxiliares de Audição , Perda Auditiva Neurossensorial/terapia , Testes de Discriminação da Fala/métodos , Percepção da Fala/fisiologia , Fala/fisiologia , Audiometria de Tons Puros/métodos , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Perda Auditiva Neurossensorial/diagnóstico , Humanos , Masculino , Resultado do TratamentoRESUMO
Generally, the performance of a hearing-impaired child with his or her hearing aids is the major criterion in selection programmes for cochlear implantation. Thereto, it has to be considered whether the hearing-aid fitting is optimal. For this purpose, methods which prescribe hearing-aid gain are valuable, especially in young preverbal children. Three of these methods were evaluated by comparing the calculated and measured gain as a function of frequency in a selected group of profoundly hearing-impaired children (n = 16), all of whom were successful users of hearing aids. Fair agreement was found for the modified NAL rule applicable in profoundly hearing-impaired subjects and the DSL method (desired sensation level method).
Assuntos
Implantes Cocleares , Perda Auditiva Neurossensorial/reabilitação , Prescrições , Adolescente , Audiometria de Tons Puros , Limiar Auditivo , Criança , Perda Auditiva Neurossensorial/diagnóstico , Humanos , Seleção de Pacientes , Ajuste de PróteseRESUMO
Sixty patients were selected for cochlear implantation and 50 of them received an intracochlear implant (Nucleus). Vestibular function was evaluated before and after surgery using a caloric test and a velocity step test. Sixteen patients had normal or residual vestibular function before surgery, 11 bilateral and 5 unilateral; in 3 of the latter patients, the ear with vestibular areflexia was elected for implantation, which reduced the number of patients at risk for vestibular dysfunction to 13. Vestibular function was preserved in all of these patients except for 4; the risk of vestibular function loss can therefore be rated at about 31%.