Cochlear implants in children and adolescents

Cochlear implants (CI) have become standard in the treatment of prelingual, postlingual and perilingual deafness and hearing loss in children. Bilateral implants are considered standard for bilaterally affected children. The benefits for speech and language development, as well as speech intelligibility brought by CI-enabled hearing are greatest if these are received as soon after diagnosis as possible. Continued improvements in preoperative diagnostics, electrode design, speech coding strategies and surgical techniques, have broadened the CI applications spectrum. Nowadays-with the exception of cochlear- and cochlear nerve aplasia-almost all malformations are manageable with CIs. New indications concern partial and unilateral deafness. Treatment with CIs requires exceptional team work. In addition to ongoing medical care of the children, the involvement of parents and relatives in the cooperation between surgeons, audiologists, teachers and specialist centers is important for successful rehabilitation.