An Enhanced Audiologic Protocol for Early Identification of Conductive Hearing Loss in Patients with Cleft Palate.

Abstract

To characterize the onset and prevalence of conductive hearing loss (CHL) in pediatric patients with cleft palate (CP) prior to palatoplasty with an enhanced audiologic protocol. Retrospective cohort study. Multidisciplinary cleft and craniofacial clinic at a tertiary care center. Patients with CP who received audiologic workup pre-operatively. Patients with bilateral permanent hearing loss, expiration prior to palatoplasty, or no pre-operative data were excluded. Patients with CP born February 2019 to November 2019 who passed newborn hearing screening (NBHS) received audiologic testing at 9 months of age (standard protocol). Patients born December 2019 to September 2020 underwent testing prior to 9 months of age (enhanced protocol). Age of identification of CHL in patients after implementation of the enhanced audiologic protocol. The number of patients who passed their NBHS in the standard protocol (n = 14, 54%) and the enhanced protocol (n = 25, 66%) did not differ. Infants who passed their NBHS, but demonstrated hearing loss on subsequent audiologic testing did not differ between enhanced (n = 25, 66%) and standard cohort (n = 14, 54%). Of patients who passed NBHS in the enhanced protocol, 48% (n = 12) had CHL identified by 3 months, and 20% (n = 5) by 6 months of age. With the enhanced protocol, patients who did not undergo additional testing post NBHS significantly dropped from 44.9% (n = 22) to 4.2% (n = 2) (P < .0001). Even with passed NBHS, CHL is still present for infants with CP pre-operatively. Earlier and more frequent testing for this population is recommended.