Author(s): Mohamed Salah Elgandy, Richard Tyler, Camille Dunn, Marlan Hansen, Bruce Gantz
In recent years a growing number of Patients with unilateral hearing loss have been undergoing cochlear implantation. We provide an overview of the efficacy of cochlear implants (CIs) to rehabilitate patients with unilateral deafness with regards to sound localization, speech recognition, and tinnitus.
Although CI is not yet an FDA-approved treatment for unilateral deafness, several recent studies show improvements in speech understanding, sound localization, and tinnitus. Based on encouraging results and the unique ability to restore binaural sound processing, the benefits to many as an aid to their tinnitus, we argue that CIs should be offered as a treatment for unilateral deafness.
