2000 Volume 43 Issue 4 Pages 295-300
The auditory brainstem response as a hearing screening procedure was examined on these infants at increased risk of hearing impairment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The threshold of the fifth wave decreased with increase of age. 0.5% of infants in the NICU had severe hearing loss and needed to use a hearing aid. The background of the 17 profound deaf infants was examined. A hearing screen program was carried out in one of 17 infants because of the high risk. She was diagnosed earlier than the other cases at the age of one month. More than half of infants with sensorineural hearing loss do not have any risk factors and they might have missed hearing loss to be found by programs screening only those infants with risk factors. We concluded that a universal screening program should be accomplished despite of risk factors.