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UNC co-sponsors 11th International Conference on Cochlear Implants in Children April 11-14 in Charlotte
CHAPEL HILL – A conference next week in Charlotte, N.C. that is co-sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will focus on three of the most hotly debated topics surrounding the use of cochlear implants in children. More than 1,150 surgeons, audiologists and hearing specialists from around the world are expected to attend.
April 4, 2007
UNC co-sponsors 11th International Conference on
Cochlear Implants in Children April 11-14 in Charlotte
CHAPEL HILL – A conference next week in Charlotte, N.C. that is co-sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will focus on three of the most hotly debated topics surrounding the use of cochlear implants in children. More than 1,150 surgeons, audiologists and hearing specialists from around the world are expected to attend.
Cochlear implants are surgically implanted devices that enable many people with profound hearing loss to regain a functional level of hearing. CI 2007, the 11th International Conference on Cochlear Implants in Children, will be held April 11-14 at the Westin Charlotte hotel and will focus on cochlear implantation in very young children, in people suffering from auditory neuropathy, and bilateral cochlear implantation – the practice of putting cochlear implants in both ears instead of just one.
Of these topics, bilateral cochlear implantation is the one that is currently generating the greatest level of interest among both the hearing impaired and the health care professionals who work with them, said Dr. Craig Buchman, medical director of the Children’s Communicative Disorders Program at UNC Hospitals and co-director of the conference. The other co-director is Dr. Harold C. Pillsbury, chair of UNC’s Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
“The standard practice up to now has been to give children one cochlear implant,” Buchman said. “The reasons for that include that one-ear hearing provides a good signal for learning speech and language, and cochlear implantation may destroy whatever natural hearing ability remains in that ear. Doctors have been hesitant to implant both ears for fear that it may preclude the possibility of restoring natural hearing later on in the other ear, if new medical advances make that possible.”
However, there is also evidence showing that bilateral implantation may provide greater hearing improvement, and a growing number of parents want bilateral implantation for their children, Buchman said. Therefore, the final day of the conference will explore many unanswered questions related to the pros and cons of this approach.
The first day of the conference will focus on cochlear implantation in infants and children less than one year old and related questions, such as accurate diagnosis in that age group and assessing the earliest age at which cochlear implantation should be done. The second day will focus on cochlear implantation in children with auditory neuropathy, a hearing disorder in which sound enters the inner ear normally but the transmission of signals from the inner ear to the brain is impaired.
More information about the conference, which is being managed by the American College of Surgeons, is available at http://www.ci2007usa.com/index.html.
Note to media: Media representatives are welcome to cover the conference, but registration is required. To register, contact Stephanie Flynn at (312)-202-5244 or sflynn@facs.org.
UNC on-site media contact: Tom Hughes will be at the conference April 11-13 and can be reached via cell phone at (919) 951-4820. Interviews will be available with Drs. Buchman and Pillsbury and with the mother of a young girl who has bilateral cochlear implants.
ABOUT UNC HEALTH CARE
The UNC Health Care System is a not-for-profit integrated health care system owned by the state of North Carolina and based in Chapel Hill. It exists to further the teaching mission of the University of North Carolina and to provide state-of-the-art patient care. UNC Health Care is comprised of UNC Hospitals, ranked consistently among the best medical centers in the country; the UNC School of Medicine, a nationally eminent research institution; community practices; home health and hospice services in seven central North Carolina counties; and Rex Healthcare and its provider network in Wake County.