Résumé
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Infants and children with Down's syndrome have been frequently suspected to have associated otologic disorders and hearing imparment as well as mental retardation. For such children with Down's syndrom, development of speech is seriously delayed due to high incidence of otitis media and hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the otologic problems in Down's syndrome children, such as incidence, degree, and types of hearing loss. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 43 subjects aged between 4 months and 5 years who were previously diagnosed with Down's syndrome in the pediatric department were investigated for the otologic manifestations. All the patients were evaluated audiologically. RESULTS: Clinical examination revealed the histories of otitis media in 12 subjects (27.9%) and mild auricular anomaly in 2 subjects. A clinical and audiological examination were performed for 43 cases. Auditory brainstem responses, which was employed in all cases, revealed normal hearing in 12 cases (27.9%), unilateral hearing loss in 7 cases (15.9%) and bilateral hearing loss in 24 cases (56.2%). Types of the hearing loss were etiher conductive as in 40 ears (46.5%) or sensorineural as in 15 ears (17.4%). Degree of hearing loss was mild for 14 subjects (16.3%), moderate for 29 subjects (33.7%), severe for 6 subjects (7.0%), and profound for 6 subjects (7.0%). CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that the otitis media and hearing loss were common for the cases of Down's syndrome. It is believed that even mild to moderate hearing loss in children can greatly affect cognitive learning and receptive language acquisition, so that early otologic evaluation and follow-up is essential in diaognosis and treatment of otologic diseases.