Cochlear implants effective after meningitis

By Michele Rizzo

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - If a cochlear implant is placed early, children with meningitis-related or congenital deafness show significant improvements in speech perception over the long term, according to findings published in the current journal Pediatrics.

"The achievements of children deafened by meningitis following cochlear implantation were remarkable," Dr. Thomas P. Nikolopoulos told Reuters Health. "This supports the further wide use of cochlear implantation as a very promising method of management in profound deafness caused by meningitis," he said.

Nikolopoulos, of Athens University, Greece, and colleagues examined the long-term speech perception abilities of 46 children with postmeningitis deafness and 83 with congenital deafness following cochlear implantation at or before 5.6 years of age. Both groups had similar educational settings and modes of communication, and some children in each group had additional disabilities.

Significant progress after cochlear implantation was observed in both groups. At 5 years post-implantation, 73 percent of postmeningitic and 77 percent of congenitally deaf children could understand conversation without lip-reading or use the telephone with a known speaker. None of the children could do so prior to implantation.

Comprehension improved over time. At 3 years after implantation, postmeningitic and congenitally deaf children had average speech-tracking scores of 22 and 29 correct words per minute, respectively. The respective scores at 5 years were 47 and 46 correct words per minute. None of the children scored a single correct word per minute prior to implantation.

Nikolopoulos noted that many children had additional disorders or difficulties, which negatively affected their outcomes. "This factor has been more or less overlooked in the literature," he added. "Postmeningitic deaf children should be thoroughly assessed for additional disorders/difficulties and rehabilitation should be tailored to children's individual needs."

SOURCE: Pediatrics, October 2006.