Title: Expanding the candidacy criteria for cochlear implantation
Speaker: Josh Bernstein
Date: November 20, 2013; 12-1 PM
Room: LeFrak Hall Room 2208
Abstract:
This talk will overview the history of cochlear implantation at Walter Reed as an example of the dramatic changes in implantation candidacy worldwide over the past decade. From its beginnings as a by-the-book program that offered cochlear implants only to profoundly deaf individuals, advances in technology now allow our center to offer cochlear implantation as a treatment for a variety of indications where amplification strategies fail. These fast-moving changes have also encouraged a multidisciplinary team approach to patient treatment and program development, with close coordination between the Otolaryngologist, Audiologist and Research Scientist. Three main groups of cochlear-implant patients will be discussed, ranging from the profoundly deaf patients who were the early beneficiaries of cochlear implants, to the population of individuals with low-frequency residual acoustic hearing who receive combined acoustic and electric stimulation, to individuals with single-sided deafness – one deaf and one completely normal ear – who receive benefit to their spatial hearing abilities. In each case, we will highlight the implications for clinical management from the point of view of the Audiologist and Otolaryngologist and the interplay between research and clinical practice.
