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University of Miami Health System

Researchers Bring Back Sound

for People Without Auditory

Nerve Function

Specializing in Medically

Complex Patients

Kindred Hospitals are owned by Kindred
Healthcare, Inc., a national network of Long Term
Acute Care Hospitals (LTACH's).

Kindred Hospitals provide specialized, high quality
care for acutely ill patients. For more than a decade,
we have fine-tuned the art of medically complex care.

Our services range from complex catastrophic
illnesses that require intensive care, post-surgical medical
rehabilitation to patients suffering from chronic diseases requiring respiratory and
rehabilitative therapies. Kindred Hospitals provide outcome-oriented
cost effective care for patients with a wide spectrum of
medical conditions.

Admissions to Kindred Hospitals may be
recommended by physicians, acute-care hospitals,
rehabilitation hospitals, managed care providers, case
management companies or by the patient’s family.
In all cases family tours are encouraged.

A multidisciplinary team of otolaryn- could trigger dizziness, facial or vocal
gology and neurosurgery specialists at cord paralysis or even vital sign changes.
Kindred Hospital Kindred Hospital Kindred Hospital Kindred Hospital the University of Miami Miller School of The team’s bilingual ABI audiologists,
Fort Lauderdale Hollywood Coral Gables The Palm Beaches
Medicine, has introduced an auditory Sandra Velandia, Au.D. and Diane
1516 East Las Olas Blvd. 1859 Van Buren St. 5190 Southwest Eighth St. 5555 West Blue Heron Blvd brainstem implant (ABI) program — one Martinez, Au.D., were able to communi-
Ft. Lauderdale FL 33301 Hollywood, FL 33020 Coral Gables, FL 33134 Riviera Beach, FL 33418
of just a handful in the U.S. — that uses cate with the patient in Spanish, her
954-764-8900, ext. 5136 954-920-9000 305-448-1585 561-904-8451
signals to bring back sound for people native language, at her activation, and
www.khfortlauderdale.com www.khsfhollywood.com www.khcoralgables.com www.khthepalmbeaches.com
without auditory nerve function. were able to obtain hearing responses on
An ABI works via electrodes surgically a majority of the device’s 21 contact elec-
implanted on the brainstem. Patients trodes.
wear an external processor that picks up “She did remarkably well at the initial
sounds with a microphone, converts stimulation,” said Fred F. Telischi,
those sounds to electrical signals, and M.E.E., M.D., FACS the James R.
sends the signals to the electrodes on the Chandler Chair in Otolaryngology and
brainstem. The patient can then perceive chairman of the Department of
those signals as sound and pitch. Otolaryngology.
ABIs are approved by the Food and Due to their more central location in
Drug Administration for people with the central nervous system’s auditory
neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), a con- path, ABIs can’t generate the same high
dition that affects about one in 25,000 level (and sometimes even near normal)
people. With NF2, tumors or their treat- speech recognition seen with cochlear
ments damage the auditory nerve and implants. Combined with other tech-
cause profound hearing loss. Most peo- niques like lip reading, though, they can
ple with NF2 generally are not candi- make a big difference in understanding
dates for cochlear implants, which and communication.
require a working auditory nerve. Our patient can distinguish sounds
With a robust cochlear implant pro- like a barking dog or a fire truck, but she
gram in place since 1990, as well as one understands very little speech with the
of the most experienced multispecialty implant alone. And with lip reading
skull base surgery programs, the team’s alone, she understands about 25 percent.
expertise in implanting and program- But with the ABI and lip reading com-
ming electronic hearing devices put bined, she boosts her understanding of
them in a strong position to launch the words and sentences up to about 90 to
ABI program. 100 percent.
The ABI program’s multidisciplinary The team has since implanted two
component is key to its success. “When more patients, one by Dr. Telischi and
we consider auditory implants, while the Jacques Morcos, M.D., co-chair of the
process begins with the surgeon, the best Department of Neurosurgery and direc-
outcomes rely on the collaborative inter- tor of Skull Base Tumor Surgery, and
actions among audiologists, electrophys- another by Dr. Dinh and Michael Ivan,
iologists, psychologists, and family sup- M.D., M.B.S., skull base neurosurgeon
port,” said Christine T. Dinh, M.D., and director of Brain Tumor Research.
assistant professor of otolaryngology at One of those patients still has hearing in
the Miller School. one ear, but he had an ABI placed
The University of Miami’s skull base because he needed tumor removal on
surgery team performed the University one side and is at risk to lose hearing in
of Miami’s first implant surgery in March the other ear someday.
2019, on a woman in her 60s whose NF2 “He can practice, and if he loses his
was causing her hearing to decline. hearing in the other ear, he won’t be
During the surgery, state-of-the-art completely deaf for a while,” Dr. Telischi
care and monitoring are crucial — hit- said. The other patient awaits activation.
ting the wrong area of the brainstem

36 March 2020 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News