Serial measurements of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) in healthy newborns and in newborns with perinatal infection.

Detection of hearing impairment in early childhood is difficult. We serially recorded transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) to search for signs of ototoxicity in term, healthy newborns and compared the results to a second group of term babies treated for perinatally acquired bacterial infection with ampicillin plus either cefotaxime or plus aminoglycoside. At initial evaluation, in the group of 45 healthy children born at term, well reproducible emissions were observed in all but two children. In each of these two, initially well reproducible TEOAEs were detected in one ear only. At the time of the second recording (mean at day 8.5) excellent emissions were seen in all ears of all children. Similarly, in the second group receiving ampicillin plus either cefotaxime or plus aminoglycoside, the height of emissions as well as TEOAE-reproducibility was equal or even increased at the time of the second evaluation in all 17 patients. In the following group of 59 patients, all receiving ampicillin plus aminoglycoside, again TEOAEs were equal or improved at the time of follow-up examinations. In all patients, a reduced general condition tended to be associated with less reproducible TEOAEs. We conclude that at conventional doses in low-risk infants, aminoglycosides are unlikely to cause ototoxicity and that in early childhood serial TEOAE-recording may be useful for evaluation of inner ear function.