Four decades after the first cochlear implant was performed in Portugal at the Cochlear Implant Reference Center (CRIC) of the Coimbra Hospital and University Center, patients can now access implant surgery within approximately one month, according to João Elói, the Coordinator of the Center.
“The success rates are very high,” with about 80% of patients able to speak on the phone and the majority of children attending mainstream schools, Elói told journalists this morning at Covões Hospital.
Currently, over 40% of the surgical procedures involve children, a demographic group that has never heard before, requiring initial speech habilitation as part of their treatment.
The cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that stimulates the auditory nerve directly.
The work carried out at the Otolaryngology Service of CRIC in Coimbra is free and “completely autonomous,” encompassing everything from pre-operative evaluation to surgery and patient rehabilitation, alongside the universal hearing screening available in “most Portuguese maternity wards.”
João Elói noted that the process for achieving results with implants can take months, though it is quicker in adults.
One child who received a bilateral implant is Mariana, nearly three years old, who began showing signs of not responding to stimuli at around one and a half years old.
“We started to notice she wasn’t hearing; when we called, she didn’t respond,” explained her mother, Bárbara.
Initially, the family believed Mariana was merely engrossed in activities and therefore didn’t respond to calls. However, concerns from the school prompted further testing.
Tests indicated the presence of fluid inside her ears, and after draining the material, deafness was detected.
Just one week post-surgery, results are not yet visible, but Mariana will attend weekly therapy and her device program will be adjusted, enabling her to hear and recognize sounds.
