QOLが改善した85歳人工内耳手術の2例

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand among the elderly for reacquisition of their ability for hearing. We report two super-elderly persons aged 85 years who underwent cochlear implant surgery. Case 1 was an 85-year-old man who presented with severe sensorineural hearing loss of 102 dB on the right and 105 dB on the left. We performed cochlear implant surgery. At 3 months after the surgery, the 67-S was 50%, the CI-2004 was 90%, and sentence hearing was 100%. Case 2 was an 85-year-old woman with severe sensorineural hearing loss in both ears. We performed cochlear implant surgery. At 3 months after the surgery, the 67-S was 30%, CI-2004 was 68%, and sentence hearing was 80%. Both patients were receiving anticoagulants, but their cognitive functions and general condition were good. There were no complications in either case, and a questionnaire survey showed an increase in communication opportunities, with both patients saying that “conversations with other people increased,” and “phones became audible.” In addition, we noticed more positive behaviors and improvement in the level of activities of the patients such as “more going out,” “feeling like participating in alumni association meets,” “increased participation in events,” etc. Unlike young people, cochlear implant surgery in the elderly entails various additional problems. However, the desire for reacquisition of the hearing ability plays a major role. Our findings suggest that cochlear implant surgery may be considered for super-elderly persons if there are no problems with their general condition or cognitive functions.