title: Children with sensorineural hearing loss after passing the newborn hearing screen.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify and describe the findings of children who passed their newborn hearing screen (NHS) and were subsequently found to have childhood hearing loss.
  
  
  METHODS
  Academic tertiary care center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective medical chart review.
  
  
  METHODS
  With approval of the institutional review board, hospital records were reviewed for children diagnosed as having hearing loss. We identified 923 children with hearing loss from 2001 to 2011. Patients who passed the NHS with subsequent hearing loss were included.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-eight patients were included in our study. The suspicion of hearing loss in patients who passed the NHS was most often from parental concerns (n = 28 [36%]) and failed school hearing screens (n = 25 [32%]). Speech and language delay and failed primary care physician screens accounted for 17% and 12%, respectively. Configuration of the audiogram was bilateral symmetric (n = 42 [54%]), bilateral asymmetric (n = 16 [21%]), and unilateral (n = 20 [26%]) loss. Thirty-seven patients (47%) had severe or profound hearing loss. The etiology was unknown in 42 patients (54%); the remaining was attributed to genetics (n = 13 [17%]), anatomic abnormality (n = 11 [14%]), acquired perinatal (n = 9 [12%]), and auditory neuropathy (n = 3 [4%]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the largest study to characterize children with hearing loss who passed the NHS. In our review, parental concerns and school hearing screens were the most common method to diagnose hearing loss after passing the NHS. Families and primary care physicians may have a false sense of security when patients pass the NHS and overlook symptoms of hearing loss. This study raises the question whether further screens would identify hearing loss in children after passing the NHS.
authors: Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors: Kavita
authors: K
authors: Dedhia
authors: Dennis
authors: D
authors: Kitsko
authors: Diane
authors: D
authors: Sabo
authors: David H
authors: DH
authors: Chi
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015997:Neonatal Screening; D010290:Parents; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012572:School Health Services; D012720:Severity of Illness Index