Clinical Research Directory

Cochlear Implantation in Children With Asymmetric Hearing Loss or Single-Sided Deafness Clinical Trial

This is a two-phase study that compares performance growth pre-implant with current hearing aid (HA) technology versus post-implant with a cochlear implant (CI) in children with either asymmetric hearing loss (AHL) or single-sided deafness (SSD). Post-implant performance with a CI alone is expected to outperform pre-implant performance with a HA. The study also evaluates the effectiveness of bimodal hearing defined as a CI in the poor ear and a HA in the better ear for AHL or a CI in the poor ear and normal hearing in the better ear for SSD compared to pre-implant performance. The study examines factors contributing to CI outcomes.

Cochlear Implants in Young Children With SSD

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the safety and effectiveness of cochlear implantation in infants and toddlers with single-sided deafness. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Are cochlear implants an effective treatment of single-sided deafness in infants and toddlers? * Are cochlear implants a safe treatment for single-sided deafness in infants and toddlers? Participants will receive a cochlear implant and be followed until they are five years old. During those five years, the investigators will program the device and monitor auditory development. Children will be asked to: * Undergo cochlear implantation * Wear their cochlear implant processor whenever they are awake. * Participate in traditional hearing tests * Participate in traditional hearing testing * Participate in localization testing * Participate in hearing in noise testing * Participate in word recognition testing * Participate in speech, language, and educational evaluations The researchers will compare results to children with typical hearing in both ears and children with single-sided deafness who have not received an implant to observe any differences between the groups.

Evaluation of Rehabilitation Results in the Single-sided Deafness With Cochlear Implantation

Single-sided deafness (SSD) refers to severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss on one side (average pure-tone hearing threshold≥70 dB HL at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4kHz) while the opposite side maintains normal hearing or mild hearing loss (30 dB HL). Asymmetrical hearing loss (AHL) refers to severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss in the bad ear (average pure-tone hearing threshold≥70 dB HL at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4kHz) and mild to moderate hearing loss in the contralateral ear. Moderate hearing loss (30≤mean pure-tone hearing threshold≤55dBHL). It is generally acknowledged that SSD is a particular clinical manifestation of AHL. The number of people who have hearing loss accounts for 5.3% of the total population, with children for 9%. According to the Second National Sampling Survey on Disabled Persons, China has 27.8 million people with hearing disabilities. The incidence of SSD adults in the United States is 7.2%, with 60,000 new cases per year, compared with 7,500 new patients with SSD annually in the UK. The incidence of SSD in neonates is 0.04%-0.34%, and it ranges from 0.1% to 0.5% in children and adolescents. The etiology of congenital SSD is primarily unknown, which is related to genes. Among the causes of acquired SSD, sudden deafness is the most common. Other causes include head trauma, Meniere's disease, labyrinthitis, unilateral acoustic neuroma, middle ear surgery, ototoxic drug exposure, Virus infection, noise-induced deafness, senile deafness, etc. SSD and AHL impede intellectual development and speech development in children and adolescents, which is associated with the side of hearing loss. For example, children with right-sided hearing loss have relatively poor language learning, logical thinking, and divergent thinking. In contrast, children with left-sided hearing loss have weaker analytical, comprehensive and visual memory abilities and relatively poor spatial imagination and visual-motor coordination. In addition, the lack of long-term monaural listening and sound source localization makes SSD children require excessive concentration, which is prone to fatigue and behavioral problems, and their academic performance is lower than that of normal children.