HEARING-LOSS ASSOCIATED WITH NEONATAL ECMO - A CLINICAL INVESTIGATION

To answer the question as to the prevalence of sensori-neural hearing loss (SNHL) among neonates receiving ECMO, a retrospective chart revie w was conducted on 198 infants having surgery between November 1987 an d January 1995. One hundred fifty-seven (79.7%) survived. One hundred thirty infants met our criteria of having a pre-discharge auditory bra instem evoked response (ABR) test and at least one follow-up behaviora l audiologic examination. Strict criteria were set for normal hearing on both the ABR and follow-up examinations. Only follow-up results are reported. At the lime of the most recent follow-up examination, two c hildren could not be adequately studied, 106 exhibited normal hearing, 21 (16%) exhibited either unilateral or bilateral conductive hearing loss and three (2.3%) exhibited unilateral or bilateral SNHL. Only one child is using amplification. With the largest sample size to date, w e found a lower prevalence of SNHL after ECMO than has been previously noted in the literature. Although the prevalence of hearing loss is l ow, the post-ECMO group of infants must be considered at risk for hear ing loss. The prevalence of hearing loss cannot be based solely on a p re-discharge ABR, i.e. ongoing follow-up testing is necessary. (C) 199 7 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.