Are small hyperbolic universes observationally detectable?

Using recent observational constraints on cosmological density parameters, together with recent mathematical results concerning small volume hyperboli c manifolds, we argue that, by employing pattern repetitions, the topology of nearly flat small hyperbolic universes can be observationally undetectab le. This is important in view of the fact that quantum cosmology may favour hyperbolic universes with small volumes, and from the expectation, coming from inflationary scenarios, that Omega (0) is likely to be very close to o ne.