Any book that reaches a second edition can be considered a success, especially with the availability of online resources. Dr Eisenberg has a wealth of experience that she brings to this edition. The contributing authors are also experts in the field of paediatric cochlear implantation. The book is broadly divided into four sections. The first section on clinical management was of greatest interest to me as a cochlear implant surgeon; though I must confess that I did struggle to wade through the 50 pages on programming cochlear implants in children.
I realised that this book is targeted at audiologists and rehabilitation specialists, because I can see these members of my team light up when they see this book. Some of the delay in writing the review has been because of the reluctance of my audiologists to return the book to me after a ‘quick browse’. Sorry for my tardiness Liam!
The second section, on assessment and rehabilitation, is especially hard going for a surgeon. I have no doubt that this will be well received by the target readership, because it appears to be well researched, addressing clinical issues of importance, and appears well evidence-based with a reasonable number of references. The chapter on neurocognitive assessment was particularly interesting. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on vestibular assessment, possibly because it was more readily understandable as it is written by a surgeon, Blake Papsin.
The final section, on special populations, includes a segment on children of a lower socioeconomic status, which was a bit of an eye-opener. The take home message is that, given equal access to implantation accompanied by excellent rehabilitation, these deprived children do not miss out on maximising their potential.
I am loathe to say anything bad about such an obviously well written book, especially because it is a multi-author work. However, despite enjoying sections of the book, it is obvious to me that this text is aimed at a more discerning target audience comprising audiologists, and I continue to remain in awe of what they do. Future editions of this book will have to address topics like bimodality, and the use of Contralateral Routing of Signals (‘CROS’) aids in conjunction with cochlear implants. I will now go and give this book back to my audiologists who are the people who will benefit most from this book.
