ASHA Learning Pass

There is evidence that many factors contribute to the varied performance outcomes among pediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients, including etiology and quality of the electrode neuron interfaces (ENI). This course examines a study that investigated the intersection of these factors by analyzing the records and device settings for 156 children with confirmed diagnoses of either enlarged vestibular aqueduct (EVA) or Connexin-26 mutations. The current results show that levels needed for perception, at threshold or comfort level, are higher for children with EVA compared to those with Connexin-26 mutations. There are also systematic differences in impedance. These findings may reflect important differences in the quality of the ENI for children with these two etiologies. Future directions could include the development of etiologically tailored programming strategies to improve CI outcomes.

This course is a recorded technical research session from the 2021 ASHA Convention Virtual Library (session 4536V).

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• Describe EVA and Connexin-26 (GJB2) as they relate to pediatric hearing loss (HL)
• Compare clinical programming CI settings between these two populations
• Discuss the concept of electrode neuron interface as it relates to CI users with EVA or GJB2 HL

Program History and CE Information

Content origination date: November 2021
End date: June 20, 2027

This course is offered for 0.05 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Professional area).
To earn continuing education credit, you must complete the learning assessment by June 20, 2027.