Twin Infants to Receive Christmas Gift of Hearing: Gift May Impact Future of Deafness Worldwide

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For the Segerstrom family of Normal, Illinois, Santa wasn’t wearing a red suit this year—he was wearing a surgical gown and carrying four bionic ears into Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana, IL,  on December 23rd. The Segerstrom’s 8-month-old, identical twin boys, Corey and Kyle, were born deaf and their precious holiday gift this year will be the gift of hearing. 

Santa in this case was Michael Novak, MD, an ear, nose and throat specialist with Carle Clinic Association, who surgically implanted a HiResolution Bionic Ear System cochlear implant in each of the twins’ ears. The advanced microelectronic devices made by Advanced Bionics Corporation are designed to enable their nearly silenced ears to gain full access to the world of sound.

Because of their common genetic makeup, the twins present a unique case for researchers—a case that could impact the future of deafness worldwide. The twins will participate in two clinical studies--one will look at the benefit of having two cochlear implants versus the standard one; the other will make use of the twins’ common genetics to see the effects of interventions involving one twin and not the other.

“The bilateral cochlear implantation of these twins represents a culmination of all of the aspects of identifying and treating congenital hearing loss that we have been striving toward for almost 20 years,” Dr. Novak said. “We have worked to get universal hearing screening of newborns to allow for identification of hearing loss shortly after birth and this was exactly how the twins’ hearing deficiencies were caught so early.”

The twins were born in April and by June, audiologists at the Expanding Children’s Hearing Opportunities (ECHO) program at Carle Foundation Hospital had confirmed both babies suffered hearing loss in both ears. Corey and Kyle underwent intensive rehabilitation with hearing aids and parent-infant therapy at Carle’s St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf. But their parents, Heather and Kevin, decided hearing aids would not provide the means to meet their goal of optimum speech and hearing development for their children. Therefore, they made the decision for surgery.

“Our hope is that the boys will be able to communicate in the real world,” said Kevin Segerstrom, father to Kyle and Corey. “Having them get two implants each as early in life as possible just made sense to me,” Mr. Segerstrom added.

“Bilateral cochlear implantation in infancy with high-tech implants should give the babies the best chance for normal spoken language development and sound localization,” said Dr. Novak.

Studies have shown that the earlier children receive the implant, the better they do, and the easier it is for them to learn language. Additionally, bilateral cochlear implant studies demonstrate additional benefits with respect to sound localization and hearing in noisy environments. Currently the FDA sets 12 months as the youngest age for implantation, but these children are being implanted at 8 months as a part of this new study.

On January 20, the twins will have their cochlear implants turned on when audiologists with Carle Foundation Hospital use advanced computer software to program their devices for hearing. It will mark the first day the boys will gain access to sound at normal levels and certain frequencies. From there it will take time before the boys’ brains begin to make sense out of sound.

Dr. Novak, a national leader in cochlear implants, was involved in the first generation of these devices’ clinical trials at Carle Foundation Hospital in the early 1980s. Carle initiated its cochlear implant program in 1984. ECHO was started in 1987 through charitable donations to the Carle Development Foundation and both ECHO and Carle’s school for the deaf, St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf at Carle, established in 1997, continue to receive funding through charitable giving.      

The surgery was conducted on an outpatient basis. Corey and Kyle are now the youngest patients to receive bilateral implants at Carle Foundation Hospital, the only downstate Illinois hospital that does the procedure.