Investigating the Influence of Sound Deprivation on Audiologic Outcomes after Cochlear Implantation

The cochlear implant is a prosthesis that is capable to restore hearing capability among patients with
sensorineural hearing loss. We evaluated surgical and audio logic results among post-lingual
deafened adults, with different times of sound deprivation, and correlated with social isolation,
presence of vertigo or tinnitus, and the speech therapy yield, between pre- and post-operative stages.
A retrospective study was conducted on patients with post-lingual hearing loss, aged over 18 years
old who underwent cochlear implant surgery in our Institution, from 2004 to 2014. Two groups were
studied. The group A was composed of 38 participants (14 male and 24 female) with sound
deprivation of less than 10 years; and group B was composed of 17 participants (8 male and 9
female) with sound deprivation longer than 10 years. We found no differences regarding age, gender,
duration of sound deprivation, mean pure-tone audiometric results (pre- and post-surgery), and
speech perception tests (pre-operatively). After one year of the surgery, a significant difference
between both groups, with a better performance to group A has been observed. The results of speech
perception test, after cochlear implantation in group B, were worse than the results obtained in group
A, although these correlations are not determinant whether to perform cochlear implant surgery or not.