Liaqat Ali, Muhammad Zia Ul Meraj.
Unilateral hearing loss in children in a tertiary setting.
Pak Paed J Jan ;33(2):96-102.

Objectives: To determine the nature of unilateral hearing loss in children. Study Design: Retrospective study from September 2007 to September 2008. Settings: Department of Paediatric Audiology, The Children’s Hospital & The Institute of Child Health Lahore. Materials and Methods: One hundred and twenty children who presented with unilateral hearing loss or their parents / teachers showed hearing concern, between the age of 3 months to 17 years were included. Patients with external ear malformations, mental retardation and acute otitis media, were excluded. Age appropriate hearing tests i.e. pure tone audiometry, visual reinforcement audiometry and distraction test (subjective) and auditory brainstem response (objective) were performed and their results were recorded for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 120 children (84 males and 36 females) with unilateral hearing loss were evaluated with various hearing assessment techniques. Pure tone audiometry was done in 63 (52.50%), auditory brainstem response in 48 (40%), distraction test in 7 (5.83%) and visual reinforcement audiometry in 2 (1.67%) patients while tympnometry and ipsilateral acoustic reflex measurements were done in all children. As regards the nature of hearing loss, 40 (33.34%) children had conductive, 56 (46.66%) sensorineural and 24 (20%) mixed hearing loss. As far as severity of hearing loss was concerned, 24 (20%) children had mild, 51 (42.50%) moderate, 25 (20.83%) severe and 20 (16.67%) had profound degree hearing loss. Conclusion: Moderate degree sensorineural hearing deficit was found in majority of the children with unilateral hearing loss. Hence, these children should seek early intervention to avoid the risk of academic, speech-language, social and emotional problems.

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