Abstract

Profound to severe sensorineural hearing loss has an incidence of 1 to 2% in newborns with risk factors. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the auditory follow-up in extreme premature newborns at the San Juan de Dios Hospital. Between 1995 and 1997, 214 children are born presenting these characteristics, and 141 survive. An auditory brainstem response test is performed in only 60% of these children; of which 61% present a threshold over 30 dB HL. Out of the 141 children that survive, it is possible to perform audiometric tests in only 35 of them, and sensorineural hearing loss is not detected in any of them. It is concluded that the current program used is not effective, and a new evaluation scheme is suggested.