Samsung Medical Center announced Monday that it has performed 2,000 cochlear implant surgeries since its first procedure in 2001. The milestone was reached on June 19, when the hospital completed its 2,000th operation. The hospital also said its hearing-preservation rate following surgery exceeds 90%.
A cochlear implant is a device surgically placed to directly stimulate the auditory nerve in patients with severe to profound hearing loss caused by cochlear dysfunction. Between one and three newborns per 1,000 are born with congenital hearing loss. Because delays in treatment can lead to language and learning disabilities, surgery is typically performed around 12 months of age. Adults who develop severe to profound hearing loss — from sudden hearing loss, age-related decline or other causes — may also require cochlear implants when conventional hearing aids prove insufficient for auditory rehabilitation.
The 2,000th patient was a 3-year-old child whose delayed language development prompted testing, which revealed hearing so impaired that the child could perceive only sounds as loud as an airplane or gunshot. Prof. Moon Il-joon of the otolaryngology department performed the implant surgery. In a study published in the Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Moon analyzed 1,430 patients who underwent cochlear implant surgery at Samsung Medical Center between 2001 and 2023, finding that 93.4% maintained their implants without revision surgery over a 10-year period. "That figure reflects how stable cochlear implant surgery has become," Moon said.
Samsung Medical Center has run a cochlear implant support program funded by corporate sponsors to assist patients facing financial hardship. About 500 patients have received surgical cost support through the program, while rehabilitation treatment support has been provided on roughly 80,000 cumulative occasions. The hospital also holds annual cochlear implant information sessions and organizes peer support groups to help patients.
Starting this year, the hospital plans to offer free genetic testing to pediatric hearing-loss patients who are candidates for cochlear implant surgery, to help guide prognosis and treatment. "For patients with severe to profound hearing loss, cochlear implants are virtually the only alternative for escaping the suffering caused by hearing loss," said Jung Won-ho, director of the Cochlear Implant Center and a professor of otolaryngology. "We will continue to devote ourselves to research and clinical care so that everyone can live in a world where they can hear."
kty@heraldcorp.com
