Predictive Ability of First-Side Cochlear Implant Performance in Adult Sequential Bilateral Cochlear Implantation

ObjectivePredictors of second-side cochlear implant performance have not been well studied. We sought to assess whether speech recognition scores from first-side cochlear implant (CI1) could predict second-side cochlear implant (CI2) scores in sequential bilaterally implanted adults.Study DesignRetrospective review using a prospectively collected database.SettingAcademic tertiary care hospital.PatientsFifty-seven adults with postimplantation speech recognition testing performed at least 12 months after CI2.InterventionSequential bilateral CI.Main Outcome MeasuresCI2 performance at >= 12 months as measured using consonant-nucleus-consonant (CNC) words and AzBio sentences in quiet and +10 dB signal-to-noise ratio (S/N).ResultsCI1 performance scores at >= 12 months were independently associated with CI2 performance scores at >= 12 months for CNC words (beta = 0.371 [0.136-0.606], p = 0.003), AzBio sentences in quiet (beta = 0.614 [0.429-0.80], p < 0.0001), and AzBio +10 dB S/N (beta = 0.712 [0.459-0.964], p < 0.0001). CI1 scores on AzBio in quiet at 0 to 6 months were also independently associated with CI2 AzBio in quiet scores at >= 12 months (beta = 0.389 [0.004-0.774], p = 0.048). Hearing loss etiology and duration, age at implantation, interval between CI1 and CI2, duration of hearing aid use, and preimplantation speech recognition testing scores were not consistently associated with CI2 scores at >= 12 months.ConclusionsCI1 performance is an independent predictor of second-side performance as measured >= 12 months postimplantation. This may be a clinically useful metric when considering adult sequential bilateral implantation.

Automated summary

This study found that speech recognition scores from the first-side cochlear implant can predict the performance of the second-side cochlear implant in adults. This finding has important clinical implications for considering sequential bilateral implantation in adults.