Challenges of Cochlear Implant Use for Spatial Hearing in Children and Adolescents With Asymmetric Hearing Including Single Sided Deafness

This study aimed to determine hearing benefits and challenges for children using cochlear implants (CIs) in one ear and acoustic hearing in the other (bimodal hearing) through hearing aids (HA-CI) or normal hearing (single-sided deafness/SSD-CI). Participants were 34 children with CIs [M Age (SD)=12.2 (3.2) years] and 6 peers with typical hearing/controls [M Age (SD)=13.8 (1.7) years]....

Clinicians fitting cochlear implants in pediatric asymmetric hearing loss should monitor spatial hearing outcomes carefully, as bimodal fitting benefits and challenges in this population are not yet fully characterized; no single practice change is mandated by this study alone.

As cochlear implantation for single-sided deafness and asymmetric hearing loss in children grows, understanding the real-world spatial hearing outcomes of bimodal listeners is critical for counseling families and setting rehabilitation goals.

1. 01Study focuses on children/adolescents with asymmetric hearing loss, including single-sided deafness (SSD), using CIs.
2. 02Examines bimodal hearing (CI combined with acoustic hearing) for spatial hearing tasks such as sound localization.
3. 03Published in Trends in Hearing, a peer-reviewed audiology journal.
4. 04Spatial hearing in this population presents both measurable benefits and significant ongoing challenges.
5. 05Findings are relevant to pediatric CI candidacy discussions and post-fitting rehabilitation planning.

PMID

42461149

DOI

10.1177/23312165261469075.

Journal

Trends in Hearing

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

2b

Population

Children and adolescents with asymmetric hearing loss including single-sided deafness

Intervention

Cochlear implant with bimodal hearing (CI + acoustic amplification)