Download Date Aug. 6, 2014 Contact Alicia Reale 216-844

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Aug. 6, 2014
Alicia Reale
216-844-5158
[email protected]
George Stamatis
216.844.3667
[email protected]
News Release
Department of Marketing and
Communications
11100 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106
University Hospitals Case Medical Center implants new hybrid cochlear device in
patient who lost high frequency hearing
Hybrid implant has acoustic and electronic components
CLEVELAND -- University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center is the first in Cleveland
to implant a new type of cochlear device for adults who have lost the high frequency
range of their hearing, but have retained the low frequencies with or without a hearing
aid.
The surgery, which took about two hours, was performed on July 31 by
Maroun Semaan, MD, an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat surgeon) at UH Case
Medical Center on a male in his 60s who had some hearing in lower frequencies but who
had lost hearing in high frequencies and found no help with hearing aids.
“This is a hybrid implant in that it has an acoustical component that can provide sound
amplification for the preserved lower frequency hearing and an electronic component that
stimulates the acoustic nerve electrically to pick up the high frequencies,” said
Dr. Semaan, who is Associate Director, Otology, Neurotology, and Balance Disorders at
UH Case Medical Center, and Assistant Professor, Otolaryngology at Case Western
Reserve University School of Medicine.
The implant, called the Nucleus Hybrid L24 Cochlear Implant System, received U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in the spring of this year. It has been
implanted at only a handful of medical centers in the nation.
The loss of high frequency hearing usually occurs when there is damage to the inner ear
(cochlea). It may be caused by aging, heredity, exposure to loud noise, drugs, such as
antibiotics, that are toxic to the inner ear, and certain other illnesses. People with severe
or profound hearing loss of high-frequency sounds may have difficulty hearing faint
sounds, understanding people with higher-pitched voices, hearing certain speech sounds,
and, in some cases, hearing high-pitched emergency vehicle sirens or common safety
alarms, such as smoke detectors.
“Hearing loss greatly impacts the quality of a patient’s life,” said Dr. Semaan. “When
compared to the benefits provided by conventional cochlear implantation, the hybrid
implant device may enhance the sound richness and quality, music appreciation, and
improve hearing in noise.”
Dr. Semaan and the cochlear implant audiologists at UH will know how well the device
is working in the patient in about six to eight weeks when the device is turned on.
“Many patients who have been frustrated with their hearing aid performance, but had too
much low frequency hearing to qualify for a cochlear implant, may now qualify for the
hybrid implant,” said Gail Murray, PhD, Director of the Audiology and Cochlear Implant
Center at UH Case Medical Center and Associate Professor, Otolaryngology at Case
Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “These patients actually will receive the
‘best’ that both technologies have to offer; low frequency acoustic hearing from the
hearing aid component and high frequency hearing from the electric cochlear implant
stimulation.”
UH Case Medical Center anticipates performing five to 10 implants annually.
The risks are the same as a conventional cochlear implant, said Dr. Semaan, with the
additional 30 percent risk of losing hearing the in the low frequency range.
L24 system consists of an external microphone and speech processor that picks up sounds
from the environment and converts them into electrical impulses. The impulses are
transmitted to the cochlea through a small bundle of implanted electrodes, creating a
sense of sound that the user learns to associate with the mid- and high-frequency sounds
they remember. The hearing aid portion of the device is inserted into the outer ear canal
like a conventional hearing aid, and can amplify sounds in the low-frequency range.
The implant is manufactured by Cochlear Ltd., headquartered in New South Wales,
Australia.
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About University Hospitals
University Hospitals, the second largest employer in Northeast Ohio with 25,000 employees, serves the
needs of patients through an integrated network of 12 hospitals, 26 outpatient centers and primary care
physician offices in 15 counties. At the core of our $3.5 billion health system is University Hospitals Case
Medical Center, ranked among America’s 50 best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report in all 12
methodology-ranked specialties. The primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve University School of
Medicine, UH Case Medical Center is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research centers of
excellence in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopaedics, radiology,
neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, transplantation and genetics. Its
main campus includes UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children’s
hospitals in the nation; UH MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and UH
Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western
Reserve University. For more information, go to www.uhhospitals.org