The Absence of Permanent Sensorineural Hearing Loss in a Cohort of Children with SARS-CoV-2 Infection and the Importance of Performing the Audiological "Work-Up".

BACKGROUND

Currently, the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) causes an acute respiratory illness named COVID-19 and is a controversial risk factor for hearing loss (HL). Herein, we aim to describe the associated symptoms and to evaluate hearing function in the COVID-19 pediatric population.

METHODS

A retrospective cross-sectional observational study was carried out on 37 children who contracted COVID-19 infection with no previous audio-vestibular disorders. Clinical data on the infections were collected, and an audiological assessment of all affected children was performed by using different diagnostic protocols according to their age.

RESULTS

Fever, upper respiratory and gastrointestinal manifestations were common presentations of infection. Audiological function was normal in 30 (81.08%) children, while 7 children showed an increased hearing threshold: 6 (16.21%) had transient conductive hearing loss (CHL) due to middle ear effusion and normalized at the follow-up and 1 had sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). A single child was affected by bilateral SNHL (2.7%); however, he underwent a complete audiological work-up leading to a diagnosis of genetic HL due to a MYO6 gene mutation which is causative of progressive or late onset SNHL.

CONCLUSIONS

HL needs to be considered among the manifestations of COVID-19 in children, nevertheless, we found cases of transient CHL. The onset of HL during or following COVID-19 infection does not eliminate the indication for maintaining audiological surveillance and audiological work-ups, including genetic diagnosis, to avoid the risk of mistaking other causes of HL.