Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Children: Etiology, Audiological Characteristics, and Treatment

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate audiological characteristics and parents’ opinions on hearing device use in children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (USNHL) who attended a tertiary-level audiologic center. The medical charts of 70 children aged 6 to 12 years with USNHL were reviewed. In 51.4% of cases, the children were diagnosed with USNHL after the age of 2 years. The main causes of USNHL were congenital cytomegalovirus infection (21.4%) and unilateral cochlear nerve hypoplasia (12.9%). The percentage of patients wearing a hearing device was 45.7% (32/70); of these, 28 (87.5%) wore a conventional hearing aid, 2 (6.3%) a CROS device, and 2 (6.3%) a cochlear implant. Regarding the choice to use a hearing device, no significant differences were found between the subcategories of hearing loss degree (p = 0.55) and audiometric configuration (p = 0.54). Most parents of children with mild-to-severe USNHL observed improved attention (90.9%), and reduced fatigue and restlessness (86.4%) using the hearing aid. These children performed significantly better on all audiological tests (speech perception in quiet and in noise conditions, and sound localization) while wearing the hearing aid (p < 0.001). More efforts should be made to raise awareness among professionals and parents about the negative consequences of uncorrected USNHL.

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Patients Aged from 15 to 40 Years

“…If the HT is not fully recovered after treatment, especially in the presence of persistent tinnitus, it may be advantageous to consider the use of hearing aids or, in cases of severe-to-profound HL, cochlear implantation [ 2 , 48 ]. Indeed, individuals with unilateral sensorineural HL often struggle with speech perception in noisy environments and sound localization, which can lead to increased fatigue and restlessness, as well as reduced selective attention and overall quality of life [ 9 , 49 ]. However, it is interesting to note that many patients did not use a hearing aid for purely aesthetic reasons, highlighting the need to strengthen the shared decision-making approach and bolster psychosocial support in the management of patients with SSNHL [ 2 ].…”

“…Genetic testing by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology (with a total of 101 genes analyzed) [ 9 ].…”