Bilateral hearing aid use is feasible in patients with well-preserved hearing who struggle to acclimate to combined electro-acoustic (hybrid) stimulation.
Nicholas Giuliani, Marlan R Hansen
PMID 34487473WHAT IT FOUND
A patient with well-preserved hearing who struggled with a hybrid cochlear implant successfully returned to bilateral hearing aids.
He reported more natural sound quality and better speech understanding in noise, achieving a 77% score with hearing aids compared to 38% with the implant.
Key findings
01The patient achieved a 77% speech perception score with bilateral hearing aids, which was approximately 30% better than his baseline and 8% better than his best-aided condition with the hybrid implant.
02While wearing the hybrid implant, the patient's speech perception in noise declined to 38%, which was 10–12% poorer than his pre-implantation score with bilateral hearing aids.
03The patient reported subjective improvements in natural sound quality and understanding speech in daily activities after switching back to hearing aids.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This is a single case report, so the findings cannot be generalized to other patients. The study lacked pre-implantation bilateral hearing aid CNC word data, making it impossible to fully evaluate improvements in quiet. There were no systematic tests of binaural hearing (e.g., localization) pre- and post-implantation, which could have clarified the patient's subjective complaints. The reason for the patient's improved performance with hearing aids is not definitively known, though better noise processing algorithms in the new devices are hypothesized.
Declared interests
The authors declare no financial interest or benefit as a result of this research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that hearing aids are superior to hybrid cochlear implants for all patients with preserved hearing. This outcome occurred in one specific patient who struggled to acclimate to electric-acoustic stimulation; most hybrid users experience significant benefits.