title: Evaluation of very low birth weight (≤ 1,500 g) as a risk indicator for sensorineural hearing loss.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hearing plays an essential role in the acquisition, development and maintenance of the properties of the speech and language. Birth weight is an indicator of biological maturation of the newborn. Premature newborns with very low birth weight (VLBW<1,500 g) constitute a group with the highest risk of sensorineural hearing loss. Our objective was to ascertain the degree of hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss and presence of the association to other risk factors for hearing loss in VLBW infants included in the Universal Hearing Loss Screening Programme at the University Mother-Child Hospital of Gran Canaria (Spain) in the 2007-2010 period.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective study of 364 infants with VLBW, measured by transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and auditory brainstem response.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 112 newborn (30.8%) referred for auditory brainstem response. A diagnosis of hearing loss was given to 22 newborns (2.2%), 14 had conductive hearing loss and 8, sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), of which 2 had bilateral profound hearing loss. The VLBW newborn presented the association to another risk factor in more than a quarter of the sample studied. All those diagnosed with SNHL were premature.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The percentage of VLBW newborns diagnosed with hearing loss is higher than expected in the general population. All those diagnosed with SNHL were premature and presented one or 2 hearing risk factors associated with VLBW.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Hipoacusia, Servicio de ORL y PCF, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Insular-Materno Infantil, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España. Electronic address: silviaborkoski@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Silvia A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Borkoski-Barreiro
authors.forename: Juan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Falcón-González
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Limiñana-Cañal
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramos-Macías
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Detección precoz; Early detection; Hipoacusia neonatal; Muy bajo peso al nacer; Neonatal hearing loss; Prematuridad; Prematurity; Very low birth weight