Pediatric Hearing Loss

In adults, a majority of cases of hearing loss are sensorineural in nature, but in children, hearing loss is conductive in nature in between 90 and 95% of cases. However, sensorineural hearing losses are still commonly encountered in the clinical setting, and many cases of paediatric sensorineural hearing loss are congenital in nature. For children, an effusion of the middle ear, or otitis media accompanied by an effusion, (OME) is, by a considerable margin, the most common cause. It is still not fully known to what extent OME is responsible for persistent impairments in speech and language abilities. One reason for this uncertainty is that auditory impairment with OME can be very short-lasting and variable, the condition may be uni- or bilateral, any auditory impairment may be only mild, and there are multiple ways to treat the condition, both pharmacologically and surgically. Congenital causes of non-fluctuating conductive hearing loss (CHL) with a degree of severity ranging from moderate to severe are rare, but do occur in congenital aural atresia (CAA) or conditions affecting the ossicles, such as congenital stapes ankylosis. When these conditions are present, and especially if bilateral and not diagnosed and effectively managed, there is a possibility of persistent impairments in speech and language as well as academic performance [1, 2].