Abstract Abstract 128

Objective: To determine the incidence and risk factors for hearing disorders in high risk neonates. Setting: Multicenter prospective trial at 5 centers in Germany from June 95 to September 97. Methods: Inclusion criteria according to the American Academy of Pediatrics(1). Screening procedure by an automated auditory brainstem response (AABR; ALGO 1-plus; Natus Med. Inc. USA). Evaluated risk factors: Very low birth weight, intrauterine growth retardation, perinatal asphyxia, use of antibiotics and loop diuretics, critical hyperbilirubinemia, intra-periventricular hemorrhage, mech. ventilation > 10 days, severe RDS.

Results: 777 infants were enrolled during the neonatal period, in 770 recordings were available. 41 (5.3%) infants exhibited with pathologic results (16 bilateral and 25 unilateral). Significant association with pathologic AABR results were: congenital or nosocomial sepsis (p = 0.026), cranio-facial malformations (p < 0.001) and chromosomal aberrations (P < 0.001) using a multivariate logistic regression analysis. Median time for the investigation procedure was 15 minutes.

Conclusion: Hearing screening in high-risk neonates is easily feasible, reveals a 5% prevalence of pathologic AABR with main risk factors being bacterial