Salvago Pietro, Immordino Angelo, Plescia Fulvio, Mucia Marianna, Albera Andrea, Martines Francesco
Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata (BiND), Sezione di Audiologia, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, Italy.
Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata (BiND), Sezione di Otroinolaringoiatria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, Italy.
Children (Basel). 2022 Sep 12;9(9):1375. doi: 10.3390/children9091375.
Background: Newborns admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are at higher risk of developing sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), which may improve over time. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of the main risk factors for SNHL in a NICU cohort, focusing on children who underwent auditory maturation. Methods: An observational study of 378 children admitted to NICUs, who were followed for at least 18 months, with periodic audiologic assessments. Results: Out of 378 patients, 338 had normal hearing and 40 were hearing-impaired; we found a higher percentage of extremely preterm (EPT) and extremely low-birthweight (ELBW) infants in SNHL children (p < 0.05). Seventeen infants presented auditory improvement, with a mean maturation time of 6.17 months. A significant difference emerged between patients with stable SNHL and those who improved only in the case of hyperbilirubinemia (p = 0.005). The initial hearing threshold was a predictor of auditory improvement and moderately correlated to the time of auditory maturation (p = 0.02). Conclusions: Our study supports the trend toward recognizing worse prognoses and slower maturation processes among NICU children who suffer from severe to profound SNHL. Caution must be taken when deciding on earlier cochlear implantation.
入住新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）的新生儿发生感音神经性听力损失（SNHL）的风险较高，且这种情况可能会随着时间改善。本研究的目的是描述NICU队列中SNHL主要危险因素的患病率，重点关注经历听觉成熟的儿童。方法：对378名入住NICU的儿童进行观察性研究，对其进行至少18个月的随访，并定期进行听力评估。结果：在378例患者中，338例听力正常，40例有听力障碍；我们发现SNHL儿童中极早产儿（EPT）和极低出生体重儿（ELBW）的比例更高（p<0.05）。17例婴儿听力有所改善，平均成熟时间为6.17个月。稳定型SNHL患者与仅在高胆红素血症情况下有所改善的患者之间存在显著差异（p=0.005）。初始听力阈值是听觉改善的预测指标，且与听觉成熟时间呈中度相关（p=0.02）。结论：我们的研究支持这样一种趋势，即认识到患有重度至极重度SNHL的NICU儿童预后较差且成熟过程较慢。在决定早期进行人工耳蜗植入时必须谨慎。
