METHODS:OBJECTIVE:While several perinatal risk factors for permanent childhood hearing impairment (PCHI) are known, association with gestational length remains unclear. We hypothesised that shorter gestational length predicts higher PCHI risk. DESIGN:19 504 participants from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (born 2000-2002, prior to newborn screening). METHODS:Multivariable discrete-time survival analysis to examine associations between parent-reported PCHI by age 11 years and gestational length, plus other prespecified factors. RESULTS:PCHI affected 2.1 per 1000 children (95% CI 1.5 to 3.0) by age 11; however, gestational length did not predict PCHI risk (HR, 95% CI 1.00, 0.98 to 1.03 per day increase). Risk was increased in those with neonatal illness, with or without admission to neonatal care (6.33, 2.27 to 17.63 and 2.62, 1.15 to 5.97, respectively), of Bangladeshi or Pakistani ethnicity (2.78, 1.06 to 7.31) or born to younger mothers (0.92, 0.87 to 0.97 per year). CONCLUSION:Neonatal illness, rather than gestational length, predicts PCHI risk. Further research should explore associations with ethnicity.

METHODS:INTRODUCTION:Sudden hearing loss is a significant otologic emergency. Previous studies have revealed a coexistence of sudden hearing loss with chronic inflammation. The predictive importance of C-reactive protein/albumin values as a prognostic factor has been shown in various inflammatory and tumoral conditions. OBJECTIVES:The aim of this study was to determine whether the C-reactive protein/albumin ratio in sudden hearing loss can be used for prognostic purposes and whether there is a relationship between the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and the C-reactive protein/albumin ratio. METHODS:A retrospective examination was made of 40 patients diagnosed with idiopathic sudden hearing loss and a control group of 45 healthy subjects. The pure tone averages of all the patients were determined on first presentation and repeated at 3 months after the treatment. The patients were separated into 2 groups according to the response to treatment. The neutrophil/lynphocyte ratio and the C-reactive protein/albumin ratios were calculated from the laboratory tests. RESULTS:The patients included 16 females and 24 males with a mean age of 44.1±14.2 years and the control group was composed of 23 females and 22 males with a mean age of 42.2±13.8 years. The mean C-reactive protein/albumin ratio was 0.95±0.47 in the patient group and 0.74±0.13 in the control group. The difference was statistically significant (p=0.009). The mean C-reactive protein/albumin ratio was 0.79±0.12 in the response to treatment group and 1.27±0.72 in the non-response group, with no significant difference determined between the groups (p=0.418). The mean neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio was 3.52±3.00 in the response to treatment group and 4.90±4.60 in the non-response group, with no statistically significant difference determined between the groups (p=0.261). CONCLUSION:C-reactive/albumin ratio was significantly higher in patients with sudden hearing loss than in the control group. Although C-reactive protein/albumin ratio was found to be lower in sudden hearing loss patients who responded to treatment compared to those who did not, the difference between two groups was not statistically significant.

METHODS:INTRODUCTION:The cochlear implant is an effective device for children with severe and/or profound prelingual hearing loss, since it provides considerable improvement in oral language acquisition through the auditory pathway. The use of a cochlear implant contributes to the development of auditory perception, favoring the acquisition of the linguistic processes related to communication skills, which might have a positive effect on other areas of development. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to verify the performance of children using cochlear implants for expressive and receptive oral language. METHODS:This was a prospective cross-sectional study that used the following tests: Child language test in the phonology, vocabulary, fluency and pragmatics areas, and the Peabody picture vocabulary test. Thirty children participated in this study, of both genders, aged between 36 and 72 months, with severe and/or profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, without other impairments and users of unilateral cochlear implant with full electrode insertion for a minimum of 12 months. RESULTS:The longer duration of the cochlear implant use, the younger age at surgery and the better performance in the auditory perception of speech influenced the performance in expressive and receptive oral language. Even though when compared to the normative language acquisition process, the results showed that these children had patterns of linguistic skills that are below their chronological age; the results indicate that these children are developing expressive and receptive oral language skills, and this is the outcome that should be taken into account in this study. CONCLUSION:The longer duration of the cochlear implant use, the younger age at surgery and the better performance in the auditory perception of speech influenced the performance in expressive and receptive oral language skills, but not in all the studied semantic categories.