Hearing impairments and vestibular abnormalities among children with subclinical cytomegalovirus.

This paper strengthens the importance of neonatal screening in the early identification and etiological specification of hearing loss by demonstrating that subclinical cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common viral agent causing sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) among pediatric patients. Consequently, if hearing impairment is found on neonatal screening, viral studies should be done at once. In addition to a survey of previous literature, these points are presented from a retrospective study of 14 children with SNHL caused by focal CMV. Moreover, vestibular studies are presented which suggest that hearing and vestibular impairments may operate independently of one another or conjointly in patients infected with CMV.