Congenital cytomegalovirus infection and its impact on the auditory function

Abstract

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection contributes substantially to the incidence of sensorineural hearing loss, which may be late-onset, progressive or fluctuating. It leads to delayed diagnostics of hearing impairments in children. The aim is to assess the frequency and time of hearing loss occurrence in children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection and to develop the audiological follow-up algorithm adapted for those children. Materials and methods: 60 children with verified congenital cytomegalovirus infection have been involved into research as the main group. 61 children, with other sensorineural hearing loss risk factors, but excluding congenital cytomegalovirus, were included into the comparison group. The age of children ranged from 2 months to 7 years old. The follow-up duration was up to 4 years. Audiological assessment included: auditory brainstem response, auditory steady state response, otoacoustic emissions, impedancometry, pure tone audiometry (its type depended on the children’s age and development level) and speech tests. Results: Hearing loss was revealed in 17% of the main group, it varied from mild to severe degree. Among these children 30% developed late-onset hearing loss. 5% of children of the comparison group were identified with congenital hearing loss. Assessment of central auditory pathways function has been performed in children elder than 4 years old: 70% of children of the main group and 10% of children of the comparison one were identified with auditory processing disorders. The received data may be used by otolaryngologists, audiologists, pediatricians and infectious diseases physicians. The developed follow-up admits timely diagnostics of sensorineural hearing loss in children with congenital cytomegalovirus.

Keywords

• congenital cytomegalovirus infection
• sensorineural hearing loss
• delayed hearing loss