Patients implanted with the same model of cochlear implant obtain different degree of benefit depending on the programming of the system. AIM: Considering that an specific channel of the internal device stimulates aproximately the same area of the scala tympani in patients who have full electrode insertion, the aim of this study was to evaluate if there is an specific area responsible for a better performance in speech perception skills. STUDY DESIGN: clinical prospective. MATERIAL AND METHOD: 12 postlingually profundly deaf individual participated in this study, all of them were patients of the cochlear implant program of the Audiological Research Center- HRAC- University of São Paulo, and users of the Med-El multichannel system with full insertion of the electrodes. The performance of the speech perception tests were compared across the following conditions: 1) all channels activated; 2) 6 most basal channels activated and 3) 6 most apical channels activated. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found between the conditions 1 and 2 and between the conditions 1 and 3, but no statistically significant differences were found between the conditions 2 and 3. CONCLUSION: The findings did not allow a direct confrontation between a cochlear specific area with a better performance in the speech perception, however, 7 out of 12 patients tested had better results when the 6 basal channels were activated, suggesting that in case of partial insertions, when the electrical stimulation occour in the basal and medial regions of the cochlea, there could be benefit derived from auditory information.
speech; electrodes-cochlea
