Cochlear implant for children? Possibilities--risks--prerequisites
Matschke, R.G.; Plath, P.
Laryngologie Rhinologie Otologie 67(2): 84-87
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0340-1588 PMID: 3362007 Document Number: 323346
The development of scientific, technical, medical and psychological knowledge of human hearing and communication has reached a point where it seems possible to liberate totally deaf patients from their acoustic isolation. For some of them there is now reasonable hope that, to a certain degree, hearing and speech may be restored by the use of a cochlear implant. The cochlear implant is a device which directly stimulates the auditory nerve via electrical stimuli and in doing so mimics the function of the auditory system transmitting sound information to the central hearing pathways. It is expected that the human brain is able to "read" this message and, for example, to understand speech. But there are very special risks regarding implantation in children which are reviewed and discussed. Preconditions that have to be met to ethically, justify this experiment are stated, aiming at achieving maximum benefit for the child.