Audiological findings of shunt-treated hydrocephalus in children.

47 hydrocephalic children (mean age 10.4 years) were examined on average 7.9 years after initial shunting. The etiology of hydrocephalus was classified into 5 groups as follows: perinatal intraventricular hemorrhage 19, congenital obstructive hydrocephalus 15, intracranial cysts 5, severe intracranial anomalies 4 and central nervous system infections 4 children. Audiological examination included pure-tone audiometry, tympanometry, registration of stapedius reflex thresholds and adaptation. A sensorineural high-frequency hearing loss was found in 18 (38%) of 47 examined shunt-treated hydrocephalic children, and 11 of the losses could be classified as the retrocochlear type. The differences of the mean hearing thresholds between the etiological groups of childhood hydrocephalus were minimal.