Auditory disorders represent a frequent health problem in children. According to statistics provided by the WHO, 1 – 3 out of a thousand children are born with severe bilateral auditory deficiencies. If there is a failure to detect and treat congenital cochlear damage and/or those that are expressed in the pre-verbal stage (before the age of 3), they have a negative impact on the cognitive development, so they undoubtedly become a health problem.
Cochlear implants have opened a new age in treating children that suffer from neurosensory hipoacusia, thus giving deaf children the possibility to develop functional hearing and reaching levels of oral language development similar to children without hearing disorders.
The program includes :
1. Initial evaluation by the surgical clinical group:
- Specialist in Otolaryngology /Audiology, including initial Audiology consultation, Medical History and audiological tests depending on the patient’s age, and nursing attention.
- Specialist in Otolaryngology / Otosurgery, including a videotoscopic test and complementary elements needed for surgery.
- Specialist in Logopedics and Speech Therapy, including assessment of the patient’s communicative skills according to the age.
- Specialist in Pediatrics and/or Intern Medicine, taking in to account personal and family precedents, as well as the present overall state of the patient.
- Specialist in Psychology, including psychological assessment, motivation and family expectations.
- Specialist in Anesthesia.
2. Medical Staff : Collective debate on the case in order to define if the implant process will be carried out
3. Vaccination
4. Tests
- Audiological tests depending on the patient’s age:
- Observation audiometry or visual reinforcement audiometry
- Audiometry in open field with and without hearing aid
- Impedanceometry
- Otoacoustic emissions
- Specific frequency potential
- Auditory potential of tallo cerebral
- Audiological Assessment Protocol
- Logopedic Assessment
- Language assessment test
- Induced phonologic registry
- Speaking Intelligibility Test
- Peabody Vocabulary Test
- Psychology Assessment
- Imaging Research
- Laboratory Research.
