White Matter Lesions as Possible Predictors of Audiological Performance in Adults after Cochlear Implantation

• Main Authors: Steffen Knopke, Hans-Christian Bauknecht, Stefan Gräbel, Sophia Marie Häußler, Agnieszka J. Szczepek, Heidi Olze
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: Brain Sciences
• Subjects: cochlear implantation; white matter lesions; Fazekas score; structural brain damage; predictive value; hearing ability
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/5/600

The presented prospective study investigated whether structural brain damage, measured with the Fazekas score, could predict hearing rehabilitation outcomes with cochlear implantation (CI). With a follow-up period of 24 months, this study included 49 bilaterally, postlingually hearing impaired CI candidates for unilateral CI (67.3 ± 8.7 years; 20 men, 29 women) older than 50 at the time of implantation. The differences in the predictive value between two age groups, 50–70 year-olds (mid-age; <i>n</i> = 26) and over 70-year-olds (elderly; <i>n</i> = 23), were analyzed. The patients were evaluated using speech perception (SP) measured in quiet (Freiburg monosyllabic test; FMT) and noise (Oldenburg sentence test; OLSA). The subjective hearing ability was assessed using Oldenburg inventory (OI). The Fazekas PVWM score predicted postoperative speech perception two years after CI in the mid-age population. The periventricular white matter lesions (PVWM) could explain 27.4% of the speech perception (FMT) variance. Our findings support the hypothesis about the influence of pre-existing WMLs on CI outcome. We recommend the evaluation of Fazekas score as a predictive factor for post-implantation hearing ability.