Causes of Pediatric Sensorineural Hearing Loss

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Abstract
THE INCIDENCE of severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in children is approximately 1:2000 at birth and 6:1000 by 18 years of age.1 Although these numbers indicate that SNHL is relatively common, it remains underappreciated and underdiagnosed in children. For example, the severe to profound unilateral losses are often not recognized until kindergarten, when the child undergoes the first audiometric evaluation. The high-risk register, which was designed to help decide who needs early audiometric screening, only captures 50% of the significant losses in infancy; the other 50% of children do not have obvious risk factors, or their risk factors are not appreciated. At present, most states do not have mandatory hearing screening at birth for all children, regardless of the risk factors, so many children are missed. In addition, 50% of the losses occur after the newborn period, so only ongoing surveillance will identify losses in these children.

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