The Effect of Very Low Birth Weight in Otoacoustic Emissions

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) in screening very low birth weight newborns from a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Material: All very low birth weight newborns (birth weight < 1500 g) who were admitted to the NICU of the Iaso Maternity Hospital during a period of 1 year were included in the study. Twenty-four newborns were studied in total (study group). Thirty full-term newborns in the well-baby nursery were used as controls (control group).

Methods: ILO88 Otodynamics Analyzer Quickscreen program was used for the recording of TEOAEs and a two-stage procedure was adopted.

Results: Mean birth weight of the newborns of the study group was 1270 g (range, 560 to 1500) and their mean gestational age was 31.3 weeks (range, 24 to 37). In 19 newborns (79.1%), TEOAEs were present, in 4 of them TEOAEs were absent, and in 1 newborn TEOAEs were present in only one ear. TEOAEs were present in all the ears of the control group. The average response of TEOAEs was 16.5 dB SPL in very low birth weight newborns and 18.4 dB SPL in controls (p not significant). However, reproducibility was higher in full-term newborns (90.2% vs. 60.1%) at a statistically significant level (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: In very low birth weight newborns, TEOAEs are reduced in reproducibility and, in a minor degree, in response. However, screening after 35 weeks postconceptional age may give satisfactory results.