Auditory neuropathy: unexpectedly common in a screened newborn population

Auditory neuropathy, or dyssynchrony, is defined by an abnormal or absent auditory brainstem response but intact otoacoustic emissions or cochlear microphonics. It is associated with impaired hearing on behavioural pure-tone audiometry, absent acoustic reflexes, and poor speech perception, particularly in noisy environments. These results suggest a disorder of inner hair-cell and or eighth-nerve function. We describe a case-note survey of patients with and without auditory neuropathy, using data from the local newborn hearing screening programme collected prospectively from 2002 to 2007. During this period, 45 050 infants were screened with otoacoustic emissions, 30 patients were diagnosed with suspected severe to profound hearing loss (16 males, 14 females), and 12 of those 30 had auditory neuropathy (six males, six females). Mean gestational age was 33 weeks 1 day in the auditory neuropathy group and 35 weeks in the non-auditory neuropathy group. The most significant risk factors for auditory neuropathy were hyperbilirubinaemia (p=0.018), sepsis (p=0.024), and gentamicin exposure (p=0.024). Children with auditory neuropathy comprise a subgroup of patients with hearing impairment involving different pathologies most commonly associated with the risk factors related to admission to neonatal intensive care units. Improvement is possible with maturity, at least in a minority.