Etiological factors of sensorineural hearing loss in children after cochlear implantation

Introduction: Congenital sensorineural hearing loss is one of the most common sensory defects affecting 1-3 children per 1000 newborns. There are a lot of causes which result in congenital hearing loss, the most common is the genetic origin, but infection, cochlear malformation or other acquired causes can be reasons as well. Aim: The aim of this study was to establish the etiological factors of congenital profound sensorineural hearing loss in children who underwent cochlear implantation. Results: Our results show that the origin of the hearing loss was discovered in 62.9% of our patients. The most common etiological factor was the c.35delG mutation of the gap junction protein beta-2 gene, the allele frequency was 38.7% in our cohort. Infection constituted to 10.1%, and meningitis and cytomegalovirus infection were the second most common cause. 79.9% of our patients received sufficient hearing rehabilitation before the end of the speech development's period (6 years old), but 11.2% of our cases were still diagnosed late. Conclusions: Based on our data we can state that genetic evaluation is crucial in the diagnostic process of congenital profound sensorineural hearing loss. Sufficient hearing rehabilitation affects the whole life of the child, and by late cochlear implantation the speech development falls behind. We can decrease the ratio of the late implantation with the new protocol of newborn hearing screening, and with sufficient information provided to the colleagues, so the children may be referred to the proper center for rehabilitation without delay.