Speech perception in implanted adults using supra meatal approach

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate speech perception performance of postlingually and prelingually deafened adults who were implanted using the supra meatal approach (SMA) and to compare their abilities to those who underwent surgery using the conventional surgical approach known as mastoidectomy posterior tympanotomy approach (MPTA). Speech perception performance of 23 postlingually and 11 prelingually implanted adults was collected retrospectively. Speech perception material included identification of words in isolation and in sentences using open-set format. Speech perception results of the postlingual adults improved significantly 3 months post implant and than plateaued. Mean monosyllabic words score was approximately 50% in the postlingual group and 10% in the prelingual group. Mean words in sentences score was approximately 75% in the postlingual group and 30% in the prelingual group. Overall, the results of the postlingual adults were better than those of the prelingual adults. The results obtained in the SMA group did not differ from those obtained using the MPTA. These data suggest that the SMA did not influence the results compared to the MPTA.