Hyponatremia and sensorineural hearing loss in preterm infants

In a case-control study the role of hyponatremia in the hearing loss of pre term infants was investigated. One hundred and sixty-four premature infants treated at the neonatal intensive care unit were screened with transient e voked otoacoustic emission (TEAOE). In 32 infants TEAOE results indicated t he need for further investigations. Auditory brainstem response was perform ed and 22 of 32 cases had bilateral hearing impairment (HI). The birth weig ht and gestational age in the HI group were 1,425 +/- 528 g and 30.4 +/- 3. 7 weeks. The matched control group consisted of 25 infants with a mean birt h weight and gestational age of 1,410 +/- 280 g and 31.1 +/- 2.1 weeks. Sig nificant differences were found between the HI and control groups: Apgar sc ore (p < 0.05), pH value (p < 0.01) and pO(2) level (p < 0.05) were lower; the total dose of aminoglycosides (p < 0.01), furosemide usage (p < 0.01), the maxim um pCO(2) level (p < 0.01), incubator stay (p < 0.05) and hyponat remia (p < 0.01)were higher, and the duration of hyponatremia (p < 0.05) wa s longer in the HI group. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that am inoglycoside treatment and hyponatremia were the two most significant facto rs in the development of hearing impairment. These results suggest that hyp onatraemia is an additional risk factor for hearing loss in preterm infants . Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.