Cochlear implants for adults obtaining marginal benefit from acoustic amplification: a European study

Abstract

The Nucleus Multichannel CI provides a significant benefit for postlinguistically deafened adults who display marginal benefit from acoustic amplification. Therefore, in French-, German-, and Spanish-speaking clinics, a speech recognition score of 30% on open-set word materials is considered an appropriate upper limit for preoperative performance in determining CI candidacy. In view of a significant downward shift in pure-tone thresholds in the implant ear for the majority of subjects, in cases of asymmetry, it is recommended that the poorer ear be implanted. After surgery, the majority of subjects did not perceive an added benefit from continued use of their contralateral hearing aid.