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9-year-old child found hearing impairment
Experts remind: Passing hearing screening is not the “end point”
Correspondent Cui Guoguang Yan Durong Media Reporter Li Jiawei
A few days ago, Li Yinglai, director of the Children’s Ear, Nose, Throat and Hearing Care Department of Cangzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital, received a 9-year-old boy. The parents originally brought the child to fetch the cerumen, but Li Yinglai found that the child’s hearing had problems. Upon investigation, the child has moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss. The parents were also surprised, because the child passed the hearing screening when he was born. Li Yinglai reminds parents and friends that passing the hearing screening is not the “end point”. It is still necessary to pay more attention to the child’s hearing performance and receive timely examinations and interventions.
According to reports, the child was taken by his parents to the Cangzhou Maternity and Child Health Hospital to get the cerumen. After examination, Li Yinglai found that the child had very few cerumen in both ears and the tympanic membrane was relatively clear. However, during the communication with the child, Li Yinglai accidentally discovered that the child was not sensitive to “small voices”. Because of his professional sensitivity, Li Yinglai suspected that the child’s hearing problems had occurred. The child’s parents said that the child was born in a tertiary hospital in another place, and had a hearing screening test at that time, and it passed. However, the parents also mentioned that the child has spoken “untrue” since he was a child, and his words are not clear.
Li Yinglai immediately arranged an acoustic immittance test and pure tone audiometry for the child. The results showed that the child had moderate to severe sensorineural hearing impairment. There is no abnormality in the child’s tongue band, and the child’s speech disorder is probably caused by hearing problems. Unfortunately, the children are now over 9 years old, and there is no early detection, early diagnosis, and early intervention, and the best opportunity for intervention is missed. At present, we can only improve related audiology examinations, including some imaging examinations, genetic testing, and then take remedial measures for hearing aid intervention.
“It is not the’end point’ for a child to pass the hearing screening”. Li Yinglai reminds parents and friends that hearing screening is not the end point. If a newborn baby has not passed the initial screening or re-screening, the child’s hearing will not have any problems. The reason is that there is a possibility of delayed hearing loss. Some children with deaf gene mutations can pass hearing screening at birth, but they will experience progressive hearing loss after birth, and acquired viral infections and otitis media may also cause hearing loss in their children.
How can late-onset hearing loss be detected early? For Li Ying, for those with high risk factors, regardless of whether the hearing screening is passed or not, they need to receive at least one or two hearing tests every year before the age of 3. In addition, those who fail the newborn hearing screening or deafness genetic screening, or have a family history of deafness, must take the child to the hearing center of the designated hospital for hearing test and genetic counseling. He reminded all parents that in accordance with national regulations, there will be an annual hearing screening in the ear and hearing health care system for children aged 0-6. I hope that parents will pay attention to it. In life, if parents find that their children are slow to respond to sounds, scratching their ears, watching TV with loud voices, or delayed speech development, they should also seek medical treatment in time. Professional examinations, evaluations and interventions are the guarantee for the healthy growth of their children.