HEARING LOSS IN CHILDREN

Risk factors for congenital hearing loss (Pediatrics 111:436, 2003)

• Family history of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), presumably congenital
• In utero infection associated with SNHL (e.g., toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, herpes, syphilis)
• Ear and other craniofacial anomalies including abnormalities of the eardrum, heterochromia of the irises, malformation of the auricle or ear canal, dimpling or skin tags around the auricle, cleft lip or palate, asymmetry or hypoplasia of the facial structures, and microcephaly
• Hyperbilirubinemia at levels requiring exchange transfusion
• Birth weight less than 1500 g
• Bacterial meningitis
• Low Apgar scores: 0-3 at 5 min; 0-6 at 10 min
• Respiratory distress (e.g.,, meconium aspiration)
• Prolonged mechanical ventilation for more than 10 d
• Ototoxic medication (e.g., gentamicin) administered for more than 5 d or used in combination with loop diuretics
• Physical features or other stigmata associated with a syndrome known to include SNHL (e.g., Down syndrome, Waardenburg syndrome)
• Parental or caregiver concern about hearing, speech or language, and/or developmental delay
• Recurrent or persistent otitis media with effusion (OME) for at least 3 mo
• Head trauma with fracture of temporal bone
• Childhood infectious diseases associated with SNHL (e.g., meningitis, mumps, measles)
• Neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., Hunter syndrome) or demyelinating diseases (e.g., Friedreich ataxia, Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome)