Moderate hearing loss in neonatal and paediatric age: hearing screening, audiological assessment and classification

Key words: Congenital hearing loss, Moderate hearing impairment, Audiological assessment, Conductive hearing impairment, Hearing screening

Conductive, mild-moderate hearing impairment in children is a very frequent condition after newborn hearing screening that easily leads to misdiagnosis. Conductive hearing impairment needs an accurate differential diagnosis to avoid inadequate treatments. The paper reports a case of bilateral, sensorineural hearing impairment of moderate degree in a 5-month male infant that was diagnosed after the failure of newborn hearing screening and because of a family history of hearing loss. His parents asked for an advice about the need of hearing aids at the Audiological and Otolaryngology Department. The diagnostic and audiological assessment recognised a conductive, moderate hearing loss associated with tympanic effusion and velar-tube dysfunction. After two months, in the follow-up, the child’s hearing threshold was normal. The case underlines the importance of early identification of hearing impairment and of a complete evaluation programme before indicating any treatment.