The pattern and stability of postmeningitic hearing loss in children.
Following meningitis, 280 children (168 boys, 112 girls) had audiological assessment, and 87 (31%) were initially found to have a sensorineural hearing loss in one or both ears. Twenty-three children were followed elsewhere. Of 64 children followed for an average of 3.46 years, 55 (86%) exhibited stable auditory thresholds over time, most commonly (24) bilateral, profound/anacusic losses. One moderate and four severe losses were identified, but no bilateral, mild losses. Nineteen children had asymmetric losses with varied audiometric configurations. Seven children presented with a unilateral hearing loss, again with a range of configurations. Auditory thresholds changed over time in nine children, either improving, declining, or fluctuating, over a variable interval ranging from 1 month to 12 years.
Brookhouser
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PE
Boys Town National Institute for Communication Disorders in Children, Omaha, NE 68131.
Auslander
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Meskan
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ME
D001299:Audiometry; D001300:Audiometry, Evoked Response; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008581:Meningitis / Q000150:complications*