Cochlear implant performance in children deafened by congenital cytomegalovirusA systematic review

BackgroundCongenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is a major cause of sensorineural hearing loss in children. Objective of reviewThe objective of this systematic review was to compare performance in paediatric cochlear implant users with SNHL caused by cCMV compared to non-cCMV implantees. Type of reviewSystematic review Search strategyPubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane databases were searched from inception up to 15 May 2017 for children, cochlear implant, performance and their synonyms. Evaluation methodsTitles, abstracts and full texts were screened for eligibility. Directness of evidence and risk of bias were assessed. From the included studies, study characteristics and outcome data (speech perception, speech production, receptive language and auditory performance of cCMV groups and non-cCMV groups) were extracted. ResultsA total of 5280 unique articles were screened of which 28 were eligible for critical appraisal. After critical appraisal, 12 studies remained for data extraction. Seven of 12 studies showed worse performance after cochlear implantation in cCMV children compared to non-cCMV children. Worse performance in cCMV children was attributed to cCMV-related comorbidities in six of these studies. Available data on asymptomatic cCMV children compared to non-cCMV children did not reveal an unfavourable effect on cochlear implant performance. ConclusionsThe available evidence reveals that cCMV children often have worse cochlear implant performance compared to non-cCMV children, which can be attributed to cCMV related comorbidities. We urge physicians to take into account the cCMV related comorbidities in the counselling of paediatric CI users deafened by cCMV.