How Long After Neonatal Meningitis Should An Infant Have a Hearing Screening?

Discussion Hearing loss can range from profound deafness to fairly minor loss. The causes vary based on age, type of loss (sensoryneuronal or conductive), degree and audiometric configuration. Sensorineuronal hearing loss involves the cochlea and neural connections to the brain and auditory cortex. Conductive hearing loss involves structures from the external ear to the oval window. Deafness is defined as a hearing loss > 90 dB. A differential diagnosis of hearing loss can be found here. Learning Point After bacterial meningitis children should be screened for potential hearing loss. Data supports that screening in the hospital is effective. Many children can be identified at that time. Screening if not done while inpatient should be done soon – usually within days/weeks of discharge. Additional screening using validated child development screening should also be completed and are recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Additional formal screening to identify late sequelae of bacterial meningitis or as a consequence of ototoxic drug exposure probably should occur at some interval, but the author was unable to identify an exact timing. Discussion with a pediatrician who is also a hearing screening expert felt that if one hearing screening was already normal, then a followup evaluation at 6 months would be appropriate. However, if the initial screening was abnormal then referral to an audiologist and/or otolaryngologist for formal evaluation was necessary a...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news