Is there a relationship between causative microorganisms and hearing loss in neonatal sepsis?

The aim of the present study was to determine the possible relationship between cultured microorganisms and hearing loss in infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) who could not pass a standard hearing test.

The medical records of infants treated at the NICU were retrospectively evaluated. The patients were first divided into two groups, and group 1 was divided into two subgroups: Group 1 included patients with hearing loss accompanied by proven sepsis caused by either gram-negative (group 1A) or gram-positive (group 1B) bacteria, and group 2 included patients with clinical sepsis. The groups were compared with potential risk factors related to hearing loss.

Between January 2014 and January 2019, the cases of 3,800 infants admitted to the NICU were reviewed. Of 3,548 living babies, the Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test showed that 35 infants (0.98%) were diagnosed with hearing loss. In 12 infants with hearing loss, microbial growth in the blood cultures was detected, whereas in the remaining 23, the blood cultures were negative. Of the cases with microbial growth, five were gram negative and seven were gram positive. In the comparison of groups 1A, 1B, and 2, there were statistically significant differences in terms of risk factors such as low birth weight (p = .048), neonatal hospitalization time (p = .001), free oxygen support (p = .001), intraventricular bleeding (p = .001), loop diuretic use (p = .001), and blood transfusion (p = .048).

The relationship between hearing loss and microorganisms causing sepsis could not be determined in this research.