A multicenter study led by researchers at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago demonstrates that children with severe hearing loss benefit safely and significantly from cochlear implants before 12 months of age, providing the clinical foundation for recent expanded FDA indications that broaden access for infants.
Lurie Children’s Multicenter Study Drives Expanded FDA Indications
Younger infants and children with greater residual hearing can now qualify for cochlear implants under broader eligibility guidelines established by the FDA. According to a multicenter study published online in August in The Laryngoscope, children with severe hearing loss experience meaningful improvements in listening and spoken language skills when intervention happens earlier in life. The evidence provided by this study was the basis for the recent expanded FDA indications for MED-EL cochlear implants. This important change increases access for infants as young as 7 months old and for children whose hearing aids do not provide enough benefit.
The study was led by Dr. Nancy M. Young, founder and medical director of the Cochlear Implant Program at Lurie Children’s and included children from centers across the United States. Researchers evaluated outcomes following cochlear implantation in infants younger than 12 months of age and in children with more residual hearing for whom hearing aids did not permit them to hear the essential sounds in spoken language.
“The findings are important because hearing plays a critical role in speech, language and learning during the early years of life,”Dr. Nancy M. Young, Founder and Medical Director of the Cochlear Implant Program at Lurie Children’s
The results showed that most children experienced meaningful improvements in hearing and listening skills within a year after receiving a cochlear implant. More than 80 percent of children in the prospective study group and 88 percent in the retrospective group met the study’s success measures. Furthermore, the evaluation confirmed that early implantation does not carry elevated surgical risks for infants under one year old compared to older pediatric patients.
Community Support and Early Intervention
Inspired by her love of music, 16-year-old Peyton Schwadron organized a padel fundraiser to benefit the Debbie Institute, helping children who are deaf or hard of hearing access education, intervention and cochlear implant support. Peyton Schwadron can’t imagine a life without music. The high schooler listens to house music throughout the day and she practices her DJ skills as a hobby. But it wasn’t until she watched the 2021 film “CODA,” about an aspiring singer who is the only hearing member of her family, that Schwadron became truly inspired to help people with hearing loss. Music is such an important part of my life, and it’s so special to me,
she said. Why don’t I try to help? This is something that I’m really passionate about.
A conversation with a family friend introduced Schwadron to the Mailman Center for Child Development’s Debbie Institute, also known as the Debbie School, within the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
At the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, the Mailman Center for Child Development houses the Debbie Institute, a school for children with and without special needs to learn together.
Global Prevalence and Policy Context of Hearing Loss
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