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What To Do When A Newborn Can't HearPublished: Friday February 03, 2012, 14:06In the 1990's I met an 8 yr old boy with hearing aids. Born before newborns were screened for deafness, he was not diagnosed until he was a toddler.
Tested for severe hearing loss in both ears by several different specialist doctors, nothing was diagnosed wrong - he was a normal child with bad hearing.
Presently, 97 percent of newborns are screened in the hospital nursery. This allows, if there is a problem, for follow up testing to confirm and start treatment. 46 percent of children who failed the initial screening had no follow up testing, reported Marcus Gaffney at the CDC. Screening and follow up must both happen.
Before the 1990's, newborn children weren't tested until they were about 2 and a half years old, and those that exhibited signs of hearing loss also developed speech more slowly. For cases of more sever hearing loss, speech development took even longer. In addition, hearing loss also leads to poorer language skills, says Dr Judith Lieu at Washington University.
Hearing loss caused by genetics or prenatal Infection, is one of the most common congenital disabilities, and affects 2 to 4 of every 1,000 babies. Torch Infections (toxoplasmosis, rubella,cytomegalovirus, herpes and ''other'') can lead to hearing loss in the fetus.
Beffore immunizations, rubella caused deafness and hearing loss. Now cytomegalovirus is the main cause of hearing loss in the fetus during the first trimester but can only be diagnosed after the child is born. Premature or sick babies in the neonatal unit can also suffer hearing loss from lack of oxygen, infection or medication. 400 genetic syndromes also count hearing loss as a symptom.
Acoustic emissions, where a tiny microphone is inserted into the ear of the sleeping newborn to measure echoes from the cochlea when it is stimulated by sound, and automated auditory brain stem response testing, wherein a few small sticker electrodes are placed on the baby's head to measure the brain's response to small sounds, are used to test baby's hearing.
By screening every baby by 1 month of age, doing a diagnostic evaluation on all who fail by 3 months, and getting those babies into treatment by 6 months, a better speech and language development will result, says ChristineYoshinaga-Itano, at the University of Colorado. Speech and language therapy; counseling and training for parents; and amplification, including hearing aids, will help older children diagnosed later.
''Hearing loss can develop any time in childhood,'' Dr. Lieu told me. ''Any time a parent has a concern about a child's hearing, whether it's selective hearing, or speech and language, they really need to check out the hearing.'' Unfortunately, children who are born with normal hearing and pass their screening, but develop hearing loss later on, may be missed with these tests. Newborn screening doesn't prevent the development of problems later on.
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