What does this research mean for the field?

MED-EL cochlear implants are safe and effective for children aged 7-11 months with profound sensorineural hearing loss and for children aged 12-71 months with residual hearing. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To assess the safety and efficacy of MED-EL cochlear implantation in infants younger than 12 months and in children aged 12 to 71 months with residual hearing.

August 22, 2026The LaryngoscopeOpen Access

Multicenter Study Results on Expanded Indications in Med‐EL Pediatric Cochlear Implant Population

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Authors

NYNancy M. YoungNorthwestern University DTDenise ThomasLurie Children's Hospital SHStephen R. HoffTahoe Forest Hospital

Discussion

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Implication

Multicenter study demonstrates high speech performance and safety in young pediatric cochlear implant recipients, supporting expanded clinical indications.

Key Points

To assess the safety and efficacy of MED-EL cochlear implantation in infants younger than 12 months and in children aged 12 to 71 months with residual hearing.
Conducted a multicenter, nonrandomized, single-subject repeated-measures study comprising prospective (N = 38) and retrospective (N = 209) cohorts implanted before age 6.
Evaluated primary efficacy as the proportion of subjects achieving study-defined performance benchmarks in speech recognition or auditory development by 12 months post-activation (target ≥ 75%).
Monitored incidence of adverse device effects (ADEs) and serious adverse device effects (SADEs) across all subjects for safety analysis.
Performance goals at 12 months were met by 80.6% (29/36) of prospective and 88.0% (81/92) of retrospective subjects, with the retrospective cohort significantly exceeding the target (95% CI: 79.6% to 93.9%; p = 0.002).
Goal achievement occurred in 84.0% (21/25) prospective and 86.5% (32/37) retrospective infants < 12 months, and in 100% (6/6) prospective and 88.2% (30/34) retrospective children aged 12–71 months with residual hearing.
Adverse device effects occurred in 9 prospective and 33 retrospective subjects, with serious adverse device effects occurring in < 6% of participants and no unanticipated events.

Cite This Study

Young et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a895f41ca7ade938187dbc1 https://doi.org/10.1002/lary.70840

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Implication

Multicenter study demonstrates high speech performance and safety in young pediatric cochlear implant recipients, supporting expanded clinical indications.

Multicenter Study Results on Expanded Indications in Med‐EL Pediatric Cochlear Implant Population

Discussion

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Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Multicenter Study Results on Expanded Indications in Med‐EL Pediatric Cochlear Implant Population

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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