[Etiology profile of the patients implanted in the cochlear implant program].

A to investigate the major etiological agents that caused deafness in the studied population is of great relevance to prognostic and treatment purposes and it serves as sampling for future actions in the public health. Aim: to check the different hearing impairment etiologies of patients in the cochlear implant program; we studied the etiologies described in order to correlate etiology with age. Materials and Methods: Longitudinal historical cohort study which analyzed 200 charts from patients submitted to cochlear implantation in the program between August of 2000 and May of 2008. Collected data: age; gender; state of birth; hearing impairment etiology. Results and conclusion: Unknown etiology prevailed as main cause, and this indicates the need to continue carrying out genetic studies in those cases of congenital sensorineural hearing loss without an apparent cause in order to trace and etiological profile. Rubella was the second most found cause, and for this etiology there already are preventive measures as there are for meningitis. Even then, the incidences of these diseases remain high. In the correlation of the different etiologies and age ranges, we noticed varied etiologies when we compared children, young adults, adults and the elderly.