Cochlear Implant Performance and Amount of HL in Ear

[Editorial]

A new study by Dr Howard W. Francis and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland, USA) suggests those with severely impaired hearing who have a cochlear implant placed in their worse-hearing ear can still benefit. In this study patients with no residual hearing, patients with some residual hearing in one ear, and patients with some residual hearing in both ears, were examined before and after surgery. Dr Francis Howard said that there was growing evidence that the amount of hearing in an ear prior to implant did not effect the patients ability to interpret speech after the surgery, so the better-hearing ear could be saved for the continued use of a hearing aid or future technology to complement a cochlear implant. This work has been recently published in the August 2005 issue of the journal Ear and Hearing. - Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions News Release , USA Research, 1st September 2005

[kelumsanjeewa90]

Dear editorial,

Why would a person with some residual hearing (specially in both ears) go for a CI in the first place? This contradicts with the CI candidacy criteria that are generally used.

Thanking you in anticipation,

Kelumsanjeewa90.