Newborn Hearing Screening and Detection of Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection

Abstract

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection was present for 6% of newborns with confirmed hearing impairment, and the majority of those infants were identified on the basis of abnormal newborn hearing screening results.

Newborn hearing screening and strategy for early detection of hearing loss in infants

“…The effects of congenital CMV infection may cause congenital anomalies in many organs (liver, spleen, brain, eyes). Stehel et al confirmed SNHL due to congenital CMV infection in 6% newborns who failed hearing screening [20]. In our study the bilateral hearing loss was confirmed in 7.27%.…”

Viral load in children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection identified on newborn hearing screening

“…If these frequencies are applied to our study population, the predicted number of congenital CMV-related SNHL is 7.5, which is close to the number of cases identified in this study. These results suggest that selective CMV screening of newborns who do not pass the hearing screening test is a reasonable strategy for early identification of symptomatic congenital CMV infection [9,16]. But a limitation of this selective CMV screening strategy is that patients with other neurologic involvement or late-onset SNHL are missed.…”

DECIBEL study: Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in young children with permanent bilateral hearing impairment in the Netherlands

“…24 One should be aware that, lacking universal screening for congenital CMV infection, many congenitally infected children with delayed-onset or progressive hearing loss may be missed by NHS. 25,26 PCHI in children is expected to lead to a delayed developmental outcome. 27,28 Only a limited number of earlier studies have described the developmental outcome in children with congenital CMV infection, who are considered to be at substantial risk of developmental delay, regardless of auditory involvement.…”