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HAIFA | June 11, 2012 – A clinical research team at Rambam has found that infants born by c-section fail their first hearing screening at three times the rate of vaginally delivered infants (20.7% vs. 7.1%). The discovery may lead to a revision in global recommendations regarding the optimal age for undergoing a neonatal hearing test.
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Ministry of Health protocol established on January 1, 2010 mandates that all newborns in Israel have their hearing tested prior to hospital release. At Rambam, a newborn’s first hearing test is administered by technicians of the Audiology Clinic, directed by Ms. Orna Mick. A newborn that passes the first screening does not require additional hearing tests at the hospital.
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Rambam doctors perform a hearing test on a newborn
Pioter Fliter-RHCC |
A clinical research team headed by Prof. Imad Makhoul, Director of the Neonatal Unit at Rambam, and including Audiology Clinic technicians Galina Grakovsky and Noah Gabay, Dr. Arie Gordin of the Department of Otolaryngology, and physicians of the Neonatal Intensive Care Department under the direction of Prof. Shraga Blazer, has studied the mode of delivery – vaginal or caesarian – on the rate of failure in neonatal hearing screenings.
The researchers found that infants born by c-section failed their first hearing screening at three times the rate of vaginally delivered infants (20.7% vs. 7.1%).
The researchers’ hypothesis is that in comparison with vaginally delivered infants, more fluids are retained in the neonate’s middle ear after a c-section birth. Although retained fluid in the middle ear is a temporary condition, during the first two days of life it can cause failure of the first hearing screening. This obligates repeat tests, something that increases costs and considerably raises parents’ anxiety concerning their infant’s hearing. The researchers at Rambam therefore recommend postponing performance of the first test for neonates born by c-section until the newborn is 48 hours of age.
The research findings were presented as a lecture by Dr. Tatiana Smolkin, a senior physician in the Neonatal Intensive Care Department, at the annual conference of the American Pediatric Society / Society for Pediatric Research (APS/SPR) recently held in the United States. In addition, the research was published in June in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The findings may lead to a revision in global recommendations regarding the optimal age for undergoing a neonatal hearing test.
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