SPEECH-PERCEPTION PERFORMANCE OF NUCLEUS MULTICHANNEL COCHLEAR IMPLANT USERS WITH PARTIAL ELECTRODE INSERTIONS

Objective: The present investigation examined the speech perception pe rformance of five children with ossified cochleas who received partial insertions of the Nucleus 22-channel cochlear implant. Design: The pa rtial-insertion subjects' preimplant and 1.5 yr postimplant performanc e on a battery of speech perception tests was compared to the average performance of age-matched control subjects who received fall electrod e insertions. All the partial-insertion subjects mere fit with their N ucleus cochlear implant between the ages of 2 and 5 yp, and had used t heir device for at least 1.5 yr. More extended comparisons also were m ade. for the two partial-insertion subjects who had used their cochlea r implants for a longer period of time. Results: The subjects with par tial electrode insertions per-formed similarly to the control group at both the preimplant and 1.5 yr postimplant intervals. Furthermore, th e partial-insertion subjects showed continued improvements in speech p erception performance with increased device experience past 1.5 yr, ag ain similar to the full-insertion control group. Conclusions: The pres ent results suggest that partial insertion of a multichannel implant d evice is an appropriate and feasible approach to the surgical manageme nt and auditory rehabilitation of children with extensive or complete ossification of the cochlea.