Cochlear implantation in children under the age of two years: candidacy considerations.

Within recent years, there has been a growing trend to lower the age at implantation below 2 years in children. The motivation for this trend is to provide children with access to auditory stimulation as early as possible, thereby taking advantage of crucial periods for speech and language development. Determining implant candidacy in very young children, however, poses numerous challenges and requires the development and evaluation of assessment procedures appropriate for this population. Issues in determining audiologic candidacy and evaluating implant benefit in young children are discussed. Measures that can be used to assess auditory development in this population and the application of some of these procedures in the pediatric study of the Clarion cochlear implant (Advanced Bionics Corp., Sylmar, Calif.) are also presented.