Distortion product otoacoustic emissions in term infants with a low Apgar score.
CONCLUSIONS
Term infants with a low Apgar score have cochlear impairment, mainly at the frequencies 1-3 kHz. Compared with infants with both a low Apgar score and hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy we reported before, the impairment is less severe.


OBJECTIVE
To detect any peripheral impairment of cochlear origin in infants with a low Apgar score.


METHODS
Fifty-four term infants with a low Apgar score at 1 and/or 5 min but without clinical signs of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy were recruited. Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) were recorded with the f2 primary tone at 10 frequencies (0.5-10 kHz) on days 3-5 and 1 month after birth.


RESULTS
On days 3-5 DPOAE pass rates at most frequencies tended to be decreased, and were significant lower than those in normal term controls at 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 10 kHz (chi2=4.49-40.31, p<0.05-0.005). The greatest difference occurred at 1 kHz; 18.5% failed the DPOAE test and this was significantly higher than in the controls (4.3%, chi2=7.65, p<0.01). At 1 month the DPOAE pass rate at most frequencies did not show any significant improvement. The overall failure rate (14.8%) did not differ significantly from that on days 3-5.
Jiang
Ze D
ZD
Children's Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. zedong.jiang@paediatrics.ox.ac.uk
Zang
Zheng
Z
Wilkinson
Andrew R
AR
D001034:Apgar Score; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous / Q000502:physiology*