Hearing disorders in children with Down's syndrome

Among 4947 children in an outpatients unit for hearing disorders 102 children with Down's syndrome were seen and checked for hearing disorders. 57 had hearing deficiencies, 50 (88 %) conductive hearing loss, 4 (7 %) combined and 3 (5 %) a sensory neural hearing loss. Compared to other publications the number of very young children was very high. 32 patients under two years of age had a hearing disorder. The results underline the necessity of early diagnosis and follow up also in children with normal reactions during the first presentation. Early diagnosis enables early treatment, conservative, surgical or fitting with hearing aids, especially important in the rehabilitation of these children. Hearing aids may be given temporarily imploring communication during the development of the child.