New approach to the treatment of patients with partial deafness

"After the implementation, in 1992, of the first in Poland program of treatment of deaf and hard-of-hearing persons using cochlear implants, and after gaining an experience through performing over 2,500 surgeries in children and adults I decided to look at the problem of preservation of the residual hearing from another perspective. I arrived at the conclusion that the contemporary understanding of the term 'partial deafness' had changed, and that the criteria of selection of different acoustic or electric methods, provided by hearing aids and middle or inner ear implants, may change and complement one another. Almost one year ago I undertook to meticulously collect and examine the experiences of numerous scientists and research centers in order to propose a new look at the treatment of various types of the partial deafness, which in coming years is going to the greatest challenge for our profession" - explains Prof. Skarzyński.

This new approach should create a new opportunity for those patients who have no benefit from the classical hearing aids and who do not qualify for the cochlear implant surgery. With such approach we can look at the results of hearing examination indicating partial hearing loss and realistically speak about its treatment using the newest technologies available. It is shown in the algorithm below:

Algorithm of selection of the  treatment procedure in patients with partial deafness

• AS - Acoustic Stimulation (in borderline patients)
• EC - Electric Complement (of the existing hearing in low frequencies)
• EAS - Electro-Acoustic Stimulation (electric stimulation with the amplification in the acoustic part)
• ES - Electric Stimulation (when patient lost residual hearing)