Journal of Clinical Case Reports

Review of Cochlear Implantation at KPJ Tawakkal Specialist Hospital

Abstract

Ezulia T and Saim L

Over the years, cochlear implantation has become a well-accepted standard procedure in managing severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. Patients who have received cochlear implant followed by intensive audiological and speech rehabilitation are able to acquire or regain hearing and develop normal or near normal speech. In Malaysia, there are a total of 503 recipients of cochlear implantation. Most of which were done in public hospitals. At KPJ, cochlear implantation started in Tawakkal Specialist Hospital in November 2012. Since then, we have had 6 cochlear implant recipients (a total of 8 ears). We review all cochlear implantation cases that were done in KPJ Tawakkal Hospital. We collected all data of patients who underwent cochlear implantation from period of November 2012 till July 2014. Amongst them, there were 3 males and 3 females. Three patients were implanted in the right ear only and 1 patient had left ear implantation only. Two of them received bilateral implants. Their age ranges from 2-35 years old. Three of them were Malaysians. The other 3 were foreigners; 2 from Brunei and 1 from Indonesia. There was no surgical complication. Cochlear implant recipient requires audiology and speech rehabilitation. In KPJ Tawakkal Specialist Hospital, these services are provided by the locum speech therapist and audiologists. KPJ Tawakkal Specialist Hospital is one of the very few private hospitals that offer cochlear implantation. It has the potential to become the centre of excellence for cochlear implantation in private hospitals. This program can be improved if we have permanent audiologists and speech therapists. These facilities are not only beneficial for cochlear implantation programme but also for newborn hearing screening and other diagnostic services.