Hearing screening failure rate in newborn infants with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

The objective of this study was to establish the local incidence of hearing screening failure rate in newborns with all three stages of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). This retrospective cohort study was undertaken in a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit. Medical records and hearing secreening test results were collected for two years. One hundred and ninety seven infants diagnosed with HIE, 20 of them died, 177 screened. Thirty five of 177 (19%) infants failed in screening test for hearing. Screening failure rate was 10/51 (19%), 20/105 (19%) and 5/21 (23%) in stage 1, 2 and 3, respectively and did not differ between HIE stages (p = 0.88). Furthermore failure rates were similar between infants who received therapeutic hypothermia or not (20% vs 19%, p = 0.84). Hearing screening failure rate in HIE is quite high even in Stage 1 infants. Management and treatment of these infants should be made carefully concerning additional risks for hearing loss and long term follow-up even in Stage 1 HIE infants should be planned strictly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]