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Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Published on: January 25, 2016
Hearing Loss in Pediatric Patients With Cerebral Palsy
Forest W Weir1, Jonathan L Hatch2, Theodore R McRackan2
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Insights
Hearing loss is common in children with cerebral palsy (CP), with a significant portion experiencing sensorineural or mixed types. Severity often correlates with motor and neurological disability.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Audiology
- Neurology
- Cerebral Palsy Research
Background:
- Cerebral palsy (CP) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder.
- Hearing impairment is a recognized comorbidity in children with CP.
- Understanding the audiological profile in CP is crucial for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence, type, and severity of hearing impairment in children diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
- To analyze audiologic and otologic outcomes in pediatric patients with CP.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of the AudGen Database.
- Inclusion of 940 pediatric patients with a CP diagnosis.
- Defined hearing loss (HL) using pure tone and soundfield audiometry criteria.
Main Results:
- 39% of 940 patients had hearing loss.
- Conductive hearing loss was most prevalent (48%), followed by unspecified (23%), mixed (25%), and sensorineural (4%).
- Mixed type 1 hearing loss was associated with significantly worse pure tone averages (PTAs).
Conclusions:
- Hearing loss in CP frequently involves sensorineural components and tends to be bilateral.
- The severity of hearing loss in children with CP is correlated with the degree of motor and neurological disability.
Objective:
This study evaluates the prevalence, type, and severity of hearing impairment in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and to analyze audiologic and otologic outcomes in these patients.
Study Design:
Retrospective analysis of the AudGen Database.
Setting:
Tertiary academic referral center.
Patients:
Pediatric patients in AudGen Database with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy. Appropriate audiologic, otologic, and demographic data were recorded.Nine hundred forty patients met inclusion criteria. Hearing loss (HL) was defined as greater than 15 dB HL at any threshold by pure tone or greater than 20 dB HL by soundfield audiometry. Other available otologic and medical conditions were documented.
Results:
Of 940 patients, 367 (39%) had hearing loss. Of the 1,629 individual ears with HL, 782 (48%) had conductive, 63 (4%) had sensorineural, 410 (25%) had mixed, and 374 (23%) had unspecified hearing loss. Patients with mixed type 1 hearing loss had significantly worse PTAs.
Interpretation:
Hearing loss in CP has a large degree of sensorineural loss, with a predisposition to be bilateral. The severity of hearing loss was correlated with the degree of the motor and neurologic disability in these patients.
