[Cochlear implant treatment of patients with single-sided deafness or asymmetric hearing loss. German version]

Background: The rehabilitation of patients with single-sided deafness (SSD) or asymmetric hearing loss can be achieved with conventional (bilateral) contralateral routing of signals ((Bi)CROS) hearing aids ((Bi)CROS-HA, (Bi)CROS), bone-anchored hearing systems (BAHS) or cochlear implants (CI). To date, only small case series have been published on treatment outcomes in SSD patients after CI surgery and there are only a few comparative studies evaluating rehabilitation outcomes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to provide evidence of successful treatment of SSD and asymmetric hearing loss with a CI compared to the untreated monaural hearing condition and the BAHS and (Bi)CROS treatment options in a large number of patients.

Materials and methods: In a single-centre study, 45 patients with SSD and 40 patients with asymmetric hearing loss were treated with a CI after careful evaluation for CI candidacy. Monaural speech comprehension in noise and localisation ability were examined with (Bi)CROS-HA and BAHS devices (on a test rod) both preoperatively and at 12 months after CI switch-on. At the same intervals, subjective evaluation of hearing ability was conducted using the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ).

Results: This report presents the first evidence of successful binaural rehabilitation with CI in a relatively large patient cohort and the advantages over (Bi)CROS and BAHS in smaller subgroups, thus confirming the indication for CI treatment. Moreover, patients with long-term acquired deafness (>10 years) show a benefit from the CI comparable to that observed in patients with shorter-term deafness.