[Early diagnosis of congenital hearing loss. Use of oto-acoustic emission tests in newborn infants with increased risk of hearing impairment].

With the use of today's screening programme children with congenital hearing losses (prevalence about 1/1,000) get their diagnosis unacceptably late (median age 28 months). Newer screening methods as oto-acoustic emissions and auditory brain stem responses have been in use, separately or as combined tests. The methods are used both as universal screening and as screening of selected children with increased risk of congenital hearing impairment. On the basis of ten risk factors for congenital hearing loss, we present our results from screening in the neonatal period. 283 out of 8,980 children (3.2%) born in Ostfold county over a period of three years have been examined with the use of oto-acoustic emissions. 16 children had pathological emission tests bilaterally on repeated testing and underwent further examination in the ear-nose-and-throat department. One of these children has turned out to have hearing loss.