Age at implantation and communicative outcome in pediatric cochlear implant users: Is younger always better? Rachael Frush Holt * , Mario A. Svirsky, Heidi Neuburger, Richard T. Miyamoto DeVault Otologic Research Laboratory, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Riley Research Wing Room 044, 699 West Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States Abstract. As with any surgery requiring anesthesia, cochlear implantation in the first few years of life carries potential risks, which makes it especially important to assess potential benefits. In this study, we compared speech perception outcomes in children who received cochlear implants in the first, second, third, or fourth year of life. Among the latter three groups of age at implantation, it was found that earlier implantation resulted in spoken word recognition advantages. Speech perception performance of children implanted during the first year of life was similar to that of the children implanted in the second year of life. D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Cochlear implant; Implantation age; Outcome; Speech perception; Congenitally deaf children 1. Introduction One factor reported to influence benefit from cochlear implantation in congenitally deaf children is the age at which the child receives the device [1,2]. Specifically, evidence suggests that children who receive a cochlear implant between 2 and 5 years of age tend to have better speech perception than children who receive one after 5 years of age [1]. Therefore, it might stand to reason that for optimal communication outcomes, cochlear implantation should take place as early in life as possible in children for whom implantation is indicated. This begs the question, how early is appropriate? 0531-5131/ D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ics.2004.08.043 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 317 274 4931; fax: +1 317 274 4949. E-mail address: raholt@indiana.edu (R.F. Holt). International Congress Series 1273 (2004) 368 – 371 www.ics-elsevier.com