Hearing loss is the most common neurosensory deficit. It results from a variety of heritable and acquired causes and is linked to multiple deleterious effects on a child's development that can be ameliorated by prompt identification and individualized therapies. Diagnosing hearing loss in newborns is challenging, especially in mild or progressive cases, and its management requires a multidisciplinary team of healthcare providers comprising audiologists, pediatricians, otolaryngologists and genetic counselors. While physiologic newborn hearing screening has resulted in earlier diagnosis of hearing loss than ever before, a growing body of knowledge supports the concurrent implementation of genetic and cytomegalovirus testing to offset the limitations inherent to a singular screening modality. In this review, we discuss the contemporary role of screening for hearing loss in newborns as well as future directions in its diagnosis and treatment.
Objectives To examine and compare the outcomes of various types of glottic widening surgery (GWS) for initial management of bilateral vocal fold paralysis (BVFP) in children, the outcomes of different GWS procedures in children who underwent initial tracheostomy, and the rate of decannulation in children who underwent tracheostomy alone versus tracheostomy followed by GWS. Data Sources PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase were searched following the PRISMA guidelines (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) on September 9, 2019, with no date restriction. Review Methods Articles focusing on GWS or tracheostomy for initial management of BVFP were included. Articles describing patients who received no surgical intervention for BVFP were excluded. Results A total of 5989 articles were reviewed: 67 articles met inclusion criteria, and 240 patients were incorporated into the analysis. Patients who underwent primary GWS had an eventual tracheostomy rate of 6.0% (5/83). There were no statistically significant differences in the rate of tracheostomy, reoperation, or mortality among cricoid split, suture lateralization, and cordectomy/cordotomy. Patients who underwent primary tracheostomy failed to achieve decannulation in 36.9% (58/157) of cases. Decannulation was more likely in tracheostomized children who received GWS than those who did not (odds ratio, 6.336; P < .0001). Conclusions Most children who undergo primary GWS for BVFP avoid tracheostomy or reoperation. These data demonstrated no differences in surgical outcomes among the most common types of GWS for BVFP. For children who receive a tracheostomy as their first intervention for BVFP, GWS is associated with a significantly improved rate of decannulation.
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