Otologic findings in a pediatric cohort with sickle cell disease

Objective: Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) has been associated with sickl e cell disease (SCD) in older children and adults. Few studies have investi gated this association in younger children. Design: In a cohort of pediatri c patients followed at our sickle cell clinic, with a mean age of 7.8 years , 154 audiograms were completed on 84 patients. Results: This produced 22 s ubjects with abnormal audiograms. Middle ear effusion was the etiology of 1 9 subjects' audiometric findings. Three children were found to have mild SN HL. None of the subjects had hearing loss of severity which would warrant a mplification. The prevalence rate for SNHL in our cohort of pediatric patie nts was 3.5%. Conclusion: This differs from past reports, and may reflect a n age dependent prevalence of SNHL in this disease. (C) 1999 Published by E lsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.