Bruce Gantz, MD: What Sparked the Cochlear Implant Era?

Welcome to Season 2 of Beyond the Decibels ! We are thrilled to kick off this season with the one and only, Dr. Bruce Gantz. Dr. Gantz is the recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Cochlear Implant Alliance, and is celebrated for pioneering cochlear implant surgery at the University of Iowa since 1980....

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PubMed·Journal article·Cochlear implants·1d ago

Pediatric Cochlear Implant Outcomes in Auditory Neuropathy, Cochlear Nerve Deficiency, and Sensorineural Hearing Loss: An 8-Year Longitudinal Study

Audiologists and implant teams should counsel families that children with cochlear nerve deficiency have significantly poorer long-term cochlear implant outcomes than those with auditory neuropathy or sensorineural hearing loss; pre-implant MRI/CT nerve assessment is critical...

PubMed·Journal article·Cochlear implants·2d ago

Speech Perception Development From Childhood to Adulthood Following Pediatric Cochlear Implantation: A 30-year Longitudinal Study

Long-term follow-up of pediatric cochlear implant recipients shows meaningful variability in speech perception trajectories into adulthood, reinforcing the need for lifelong audiological monitoring rather than discharge at a fixed age.

PubMed·Journal article·Cochlear implants·5d ago

Age-Independent Bilateral Advantage in Quiet Speech Recognition: A Matched Longitudinal Analysis of Adult Cochlear Implant Users

The bilateral cochlear implant advantage for quiet speech recognition is age-independent in adults, supporting consideration of bilateral implantation across the adult age spectrum rather than restricting it to younger patients.

PubMed·Journal article·Cochlear implants·3w ago

Benefits of bilateral cochlear implantation in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Bilateral cochlear implantation in children provides superior outcomes over unilateral implantation in speech, language, and spatial hearing; audiologists and cochlear implant teams should advocate for bilateral implantation when candidacy criteria are met.

PubMed·Journal article·Cochlear implants·6d ago

The effects of frequency overlap on functional listening outcomes in postlingually deafened bimodal cochlear implant users with aidable residual low-to-mid frequency hearing

Audiologists fitting bimodal cochlear implant users should consider the degree of cross-ear frequency overlap as a programming variable, as it may affect functional listening outcomes — though practice changes should await peer review of full results.

PubMed·Journal article·Cochlear implants·3w ago

Long-Term Functional Hearing Preservation in Pediatric Cochlear Implant Recipients

Audiologists and cochlear implant surgeons should weigh electrode array length and pre-operative hearing levels carefully when planning pediatric implantation to maximize long-term functional hearing preservation.

PubMed·Journal article·Cochlear implants·4w ago

Comorbid Psychological Diagnoses in Children With Single-Sided Deafness Who Received or Are Under Consideration for Cochlear Implantation

Audiologists and implant teams should routinely screen pediatric single-sided deafness cochlear implant candidates for comorbid psychological diagnoses to enable coordinated, whole-child care.

PubMed·Journal article·Cochlear implants·2w ago

Intraoperative and Long-Term Impedance Changes and Electrode Malfunctions in Cochlear Implant Recipients

Audiologists and CI teams should monitor electrode impedance longitudinally; this study provides reference data on malfunction prevalence and trajectory that can inform troubleshooting protocols and patient counselling.