Auditory Brainstem response electrophysiological thresholds with narrow band chirps stimuli in hearing infants.

OBJECTIVES: to describe reference values for the electrophysiological thresholds obtained in the frequency-specific Auditory Brainstem Response (fsABR) with the NB CE-Chirp® LS and NB iChirp stimuli in hearing infants and to compare the variables: Minimum Levels of Response (MLR), latency, amplitude and examination time. METHODS: the sample consisted of 74 full-term infants, with a mean age of 23.11 days, 29 females and 45 males. The participants underwent fsABR at the frequencies of 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz and 4000 Hz, to measure the MLR with the NB CE-Chirp® LS stimulus in the Eclipse equipment, and with the NB iChirp stimulus in the SmartEP, all in natural sleep and performed in the same session. The waveforms were evaluated by judges and later, for the comparison of thresholds and examination time, analyzed with the Wilcoxon test. To compare latency and amplitude, the Student's T Test and ANOVA were used for the same variables, but with the same stimulus. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the examination time at the different frequencies. RESULTS: The MLR and latency at 500 Hz and 1000 Hz showed a statistically significant difference between the stimuli, with lower thresholds and higher latencies for the NB iChirp. Higher amplitudes were obtained with the NB iChirp stimulus. The average examination time for the threshold investigation in the four frequencies was 40 min for each ear. CONCLUSION: it was possible to present reference values for the MLR and latencies for the NB CE-Chirp® LS and NB iChirp stimuli for hearing infants. In addition, with the NB iChirp, the latency of the responses was influenced by the frequency, but it was the stimulus that provided greater amplitudes. With the NB CE-Chirp® LS, the frequency did not influence latency, except at 500 Hz, and the stimulus provided recordings that facilitated the visualization of wave V. There was no difference in the examination time between the stimuli, nor between the test frequencies.

Hearing rehabilitation of children and adolescents with unilateral hearing loss / Reabilitação auditiva de crianças e adolescentes com perda auditiva unilateral

ABSTRACT Purpose To describe the audiological characteristics and the type of intervention chosen on unilateral hearing loss cases in children and adolescents as well as to analyze correlations between the degree of hearing loss, the indication and the use of electronic devices. Methods Observational, descriptive and retrospective study, carried out with information of 34 medical records from children and adolescents with unilateral hearing loss, assessed by two auditory rehabilitation services of medium complexity, throughout 2016 to 2019. Descriptive and Inferential statistical analysis were performed with the data. Results A predominance of profound sensorineural unilateral hearing loss in the right ear, of pre-lingual character, with 20.6% of malformations. The most adopted intervention was the hearing aid indication, although its use is low, regardless of the degree of the hearing loss. An association was found between the degree of the hearing loss and the healthcare professionals in indicating the use of the devices. Conclusion The indication of hearing aids is the most frequent and this decision is influenced by the degree of the hearing loss, in which the devices are mostly indicated for mild to severe losses, with bigger divergence of conduct for profound hearing losses.

RESUMO Objetivo Descrever as características audiológicas e o tipo de intervenção tomada em casos de perda auditiva unilateral em crianças e adolescentes e analisar correlações entre o grau da deficiência auditiva, a indicação e o uso de auxiliares de audição. Método Estudo observacional, descritivo e retrospectivo, realizado com informações dos prontuários de 34 crianças e adolescentes com perda auditiva unilateral, atendidos em dois serviços de reabilitação auditiva de média complexidade, no período de 2016 a 2019. Realizou-se a análise estatística descritiva e inferencial dos dados. Resultados Predomínio de perda auditiva unilateral do tipo neurossensorial, de grau profundo à direita, pré-lingual com 20,6% de malformações. A intervenção mais adotada foi a indicação de prótese auditiva, porém o uso é baixo, independente do grau da perda. Houve associação entre o grau da perda auditiva e a decisão dos profissionais em indicar o uso dos dispositivos. Conclusão A indicação de próteses auditivas é a mais frequente e esta decisão é influenciada pelo grau da perda auditiva, sendo os aparelhos auditivos indicados para as perdas leves a severas, com uma maior divergência de condutas para as perdas profundas.

Congenital toxoplasmosis and auditory disorders: a literature review.

Background: Congenital toxoplasmosis (CT) occurs mainly by primary maternal infection during pregnancy. It is estimated that the incidence of vertical transmission to the fetus is 20% and that infected women are more likely to have a premature birth or low birth weight neonate since there is an association between CT and the rate of premature birth and low birth weight. In addition to severe neurological and ophthalmic consequences, hearing disorders such as hearing loss are also among the clinical manifestations seen in children with CT. Given the above, the objective of this study is to verify what are the auditory disorders seen in children with CT. Methods: This literature review was structured according to the PRISMA statement and based on the terms of Study Target Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Study Types (PICOS). To obtain the studies, the following electronic databases were consulted: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Lilacs. The combined terms used for the search were: ("auditory evoked potentials" OR "hearing" OR "hearing loss") AND ("congenital toxoplasmosis"). The selection of articles was carried out independently, blindly, by two of the authors, to minimize risk of bias. Results: The search in the databases identified 172 articles, after excluding duplicate articles, 105 studies were identified. From the selection made by reading the titles and abstracts, 11 studies were selected for full-text reading. A total of 94 studies were excluded. An article was selected from the list of references. Therefore, 12 studies were included in the final analysis. It was observed that a significant percentage of studies sought to study the peripheral auditory pathway, verifying the occurrence or association between hearing loss and the presence of congenital infection. Only two studies evaluated the central auditory pathway, using the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential (BAEP) and the Frequency Following Response (FFR). Conclusion: Toxoplasmosis affects not only the peripheral areas but central areas as well. Most studies suggest this pathology as a risk factor for both peripheral and central impairment. Research has found a greater association between CT and mild to moderate hearing loss, in addition to alterations in exams such as BAEP and FFR. These data recommend that CT be reported as a global public health problem and can help assess complications and impacts of hearing disorders as a result of CT. There is a gap about studies that retract the co-occurrence between CT and other Risk Indicators for Hearing Loss (RIHL), such as prematurity, permanence in the intensive care unit, and use of ototoxic medications, lack of longitudinal studies, that accompany the development of hearing and language of children with CT, since the consequences of this infection may be late.

Hearing rehabilitation of children and adolescents with unilateral hearing loss.

PURPOSE: To describe the audiological characteristics and the type of intervention chosen on unilateral hearing loss cases in children and adolescents as well as to analyze correlations between the degree of hearing loss, the indication and the use of electronic devices. METHODS: Observational, descriptive and retrospective study, carried out with information of 34 medical records from children and adolescents with unilateral hearing loss, assessed by two auditory rehabilitation services of medium complexity, throughout 2016 to 2019. Descriptive and Inferential statistical analysis were performed with the data. RESULTS: A predominance of profound sensorineural unilateral hearing loss in the right ear, of pre-lingual character, with 20.6% of malformations. The most adopted intervention was the hearing aid indication, although its use is low, regardless of the degree of the hearing loss. An association was found between the degree of the hearing loss and the healthcare professionals in indicating the use of the devices. CONCLUSION: The indication of hearing aids is the most frequent and this decision is influenced by the degree of the hearing loss, in which the devices are mostly indicated for mild to severe losses, with bigger divergence of conduct for profound hearing losses.

The effect of child development on the components of the Frequency Following Response: Child development and the Frequency Following Response.

During childhood, neuronal modifications occur so that typical childhood communicative development occurs. This work aims to contribute to the understanding of differences in the speech encoding of infants and school-age children by assessing the effects of child development, in different phases of early childhood, on the encoding of speech sounds. There were 98 subjects of both sexes, aged from 1 day to 8 years and 9 months who participated in the study. All subjects underwent a Frequency Following Response (FFR) assessment. A regression and linear correlation showed the effects of age in the FFR components, i.e., significant decrease in the latency and increased amplitude of all FFR waves with age. An increase in the slope measure was also observed. Younger infants require more time and show less robust responses when encoding speech than their older counterparts, which were shown to have more stable and well-organized FFR responses.

Auditory Brainstem Response with the iChirp stimuli in the infant's audiological diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE: to investigate the use of the iChirp stimulus in the infant's audiological diagnosis compared to stimuli typically used in the ABR in infants, in addition to suggesting reference values for the assessment of this population. METHODS: 62 infants participated in the study, 29 females and 33 males. The subjects underwent the recording of the Auditory Brainstem Response in the Smart Ep equipment, with the stimuli click, iChirp-broadband, tone burst and iChirp-narrowband, which were presented at three levels of intensity (20 dB, 40 dB and 60 dB) and, for tone burst and iChirp-narrowband stimuli, at different frequencies (0.5, 1 k, 2 k and 4 KHz). The data were later analyzed using Student's t-test. RESULTS: In general, the iChirp-broadband and iChirp-narrowband stimuli showed higher latency values and greater amplitudes when compared to click and tone burst stimuli. Furthermore, better signal-to-noise ratios were observed when contrasting iChirp-narrowband with tone burst. Additionally, reference values were established for the assessment of ABR in infants with the iChirp-broadband and iChirp-narrowband in the Smart-Ep equipment. CONCLUSION: The iChirp stimulus appears to be promising in the infant's audiological diagnosis, as its use promoted greater amplitudes and better wave morphology, which facilitates to mark the waveforms and provides greater efficiency in the investigation of the auditory thresholds. The indication of normative data also enables the clinical use of these stimuli in the infant's audiological diagnosis.

Mismatch Negativity in children with Phonological Disorders.

OBJECTIVE: to characterize the latency, amplitude and area variables of the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) elicited with verbal stimuli in children with PD, in addition to assessing whether this potential can be a useful tool in capturing auditory perception and discrimination deficits related to this disorder. METHODS: MMN was recorded using a combination of speech contrast consisting of acoustic syllables [da vs ta], as the standard and deviant stimuli, in 34 children aged between 5 and 8 years. 14 children of the sample were already diagnosed with Phonological Disorder (PD) while 19 were characterized with typical development. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences were observed for the MMN responses recorded between children with PD and their typically developed peers. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the MMN may not be the most suitable procedure to assess auditory perception and discrimination deficits that could potentially be related to PD.

Evasion of Newborn Hearing Screening retest: relation with risk factors for hearing impairment / Evasão no reteste da Triagem Auditiva Neonatal: relação com indicadores de risco para deficiência auditiva

ABSTRACT Purpose: to analyze the evasion rate of the Newborn Hearing Screening program's retest, to verify whether the presence of risk indicators for hearing loss influences it, and to describe which risk indicators for hearing loss occur more frequently in these cases. Methods: 1,287 newborns/infants participated, who were screened between June 2015 and June 2018. All of them obtained "fail" as the Newborn Hearing Screening result, were referred to the retest and did not attend it. Information related to the occurrence of risk indicators for hearing loss was observed. Results: the study found that the evasion rate was of 15.23%. The presence of risk indicators for hearing loss did not show an association with non-attendance at this stage of the program (p-value = 0.087). The most frequent indicators in the cases of non-attendance at the retest were: ototoxic medication use and intensive care unit stay for more than five days. Conclusion: high evasion rate of the retest has been observed. It has been found that the presence of risk indicators did not influence the retest evasion rate. Use of ototoxic medication and stay at the intensive care unit were the most frequent indicators among those who did not attend the retest.

RESUMO Objetivo: analisar o índice de evasão no reteste do programa de Triagem Auditiva Neonatal, verificar se a presença de Indicadores de Risco para Deficiência Auditiva o influencia e descrever quais Indicadores de Risco para Deficiência Auditiva ocorrem com maior frequência nestes casos. Métodos: participaram 1287 neonatos/lactentes, triados no período de junho de 2015 a junho de 2018, que obtiveram resultado "falha" na Triagem Auditiva Neonatal, encaminhados para o reteste e não compareceram. Foram observadas informações relacionadas a ocorrência dos Indicadores de Risco para Deficiência Auditiva. Resultados: o estudo constatou que o índice de evasão foi de 15,23%. A presença de indicadores de risco para deficiência auditiva não demonstrou associação com o não comparecimento a essa etapa do programa (p-valor= 0,087). Os indicadores de maior ocorrência nos casos de não comparecimento no reteste foram: medicação ototóxica e permanência em Unidade de Tratamento Intensivo por período maior que cinco dias. Conclusão: observou-se elevado índice de evasão no reteste. Verificou-se que a presença dos indicadores de risco não influenciou no índice de evasão do reteste. O uso de medicação ototóxica e a permanência em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva foram os indicadores mais frequentes naqueles que não compareceram ao reteste.