Haensel Jan, Ilgner Justus, Chen Yue-Shih, Thuermer Christian, Westhofen Martin
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital of RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany.
Acta Otolaryngol. 2005 Dec;125(12):1272-6. doi: 10.1080/00016480510044214.
Elderly patients benefit from cochlear implantation in terms of speech perception and quality of life. Age alone should be no contraindication for implantation.
There have been concerns whether elderly patients may perform poorly after cochlear implantation due to degenerative processes in the central and peripheral auditory systems. The purpose of this study was to analyze the benefits of cochlear implantation in elderly patients in comparison to younger recipients.
We examined 26 postlingually deafened adults aged > 65 years who received a cochlear implant at our center regarding preoperative findings, comorbidities, postoperative complications and quality of life. Speech perception was assessed by means of multi- and monosyllabic word recognition and compared to the results obtained by younger patients.
The surgical procedure was well tolerated by all patients without notable perioperative complications. In terms of speech perception, no significant differences between the elderly patients and younger recipients were noted. All patients found that cochlear implantation had a positive impact on their quality of life.
老年患者在言语感知和生活质量方面可从人工耳蜗植入中获益。年龄本身不应成为植入的禁忌证。
一直有人担心老年患者由于中枢和外周听觉系统的退行性病变，人工耳蜗植入后效果可能不佳。本研究的目的是分析老年患者与年轻接受者相比，人工耳蜗植入的益处。
我们检查了26名65岁以上在我们中心接受人工耳蜗植入的语后聋成年人，评估其术前检查结果、合并症、术后并发症及生活质量。通过多音节和单音节单词识别评估言语感知，并与年轻患者的结果进行比较。
所有患者对手术耐受性良好，围手术期无明显并发症。在言语感知方面，老年患者与年轻接受者之间未发现显著差异。所有患者均发现人工耳蜗植入对其生活质量有积极影响。
