Vestibular Function and Quality of Life in Patients After Cochlear Implantation

Status: Recruiting
Intervention Type: Diagnostic test
Study Type: Observational
SUMMARY

A hearing loss is condition which significantly affects the quality of life. The prevalence of the hearing disorders is relatively high due to many conditions which may result in a deafness. In those cases where hearing aids are not a sufficient solution to these difficulties, cochlear implantation is the standard treatment. It has been more than 30 years since the first implantation in the Czech Republic. These days it is common surgical procedure for adults and even children and it replaces, at least in part, the function of the hair cells that are no longer able to stimulate the primary auditory neurons.. Recent studies have reported that cochlear implant does not affect only hearing, but also other functions of the inner ear - the vestibular system resulting in stability and spatial orientation. Postural control is provided by coordination of movement strategies and sensory functions. If one ore more of these components are compromised postural instability appears. Instability is one of the most common causes of reduced quality of life. The deaf are characterized by their compensatory mechanisms, where visual system dominates over somatosensory and vestibular. After the cochlear implantation the postural behavior and compensations are changing apparently. The investigators assume that these mechanisms can be affected by vestibular rehabilitation. The purpose of this projet, will be to evaluate whether electrical stimulation of the eighth cranial nerve also affects vestibular functions and determine if the stimulaton changes postural stability and created compensations.

Eligibility
Participation Requirements
Sex: All
Minimum Age: 18
Healthy Volunteers: f
View:

• patients who meet the demanding indication criteria for cochlear implantation (include an ENT examination, audiometry, neurological examination, examination by a clinical speech therapist and by a psychologist and CT examination of the temporal bones) also meet the conditions for inclusion into the study

Time Frame
Start Date: 2020-01-11
Estimated Completion Date: 2024-05
Participants
Target number of participants: 40
Treatments
Cochlear implant patients
The group of patients will consist of 40 adult patients indicated for cochlear implantation at the Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, 1st Faculty of Medicine and FN Motol. Patients who meet the indication criteria for implantation also meet the conditions for inclusion in the study, another criterias are absence of diseases of the bearing joints, absence of diseases peripheral nervous system or muscle disease and absence of disease vision that would prevent visual fixation.
Related Therapeutic Areas
Sponsors
Leads: Charles University, Czech Republic
Collaborators: University Hospital, Motol

This content was sourced from clinicaltrials.gov