Late-onset hearing loss in children with connatal CMV infection

Indroduction Connatal CMV infection are a known risk factor for the occurrence of childhood connatal, progressive or late-onset hearing loss. The incidence and severity are highly variable. A group that has not been investigated so far are children with initially inconspicuous hearing, who later develop hearing loss in the following years. We analyzed this subgroup in our patient base.

Methods We evaluated the medical records of all children with a connatal CMV infection who were under our treatment for manifest hearing impairment or for regular follow ups in case of asymptomatic course on the cut-off date of September 1, 2020. We analyzed the degree of hearing impairment and the course of hearing from the first presentation to our clinic up to the deadline.

Results At the time of the assessment, 39 children with congenital CMV infection were in our follow-up care. Of these, 12 (31 % ) suffered from hearing impairment. 27 children (69 % ) had normal hearing. Of the children with hearing loss, 6 had cochlear implants, 3 children had conventional hearing aids and one is supplied bimodal. Out of the collective of hearing-impaired children, 2 (17 % ) had normal newborn hearing screening and developed hearing loss in the following time. The time of the diagnosis was the 17th month or the 4th year of life.

Conclusion 17 %  of our hearing-impaired patients developed a late-onset hearing loss after initially inconspicuous newborn hearing screening. This agrees with existing observations that report late-onset hearing loss in between 14.6 %  and 18.1 %  (1,2) of the cases. This small group of patients should be further examined to evaluate the beginnig of the hearing loss and to assess the severity of the hearing loss.

Poster-PDF A-1146.pdf

Conflict of interest

Der Erstautor gibt keinen Interessenskonflikt an.

Publication History

Article published online:
13 May 2021