Audiological Characterization in Children With Isolated Robin Sequence During the First Year of Life: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Objective

To characterize the audiological and sociodemographic profiles of children diagnosed with isolated Robin sequence (RS) and cleft palate (CP) during the first year of life. In addition, this study aimed to propose an audiological assessment protocol for early identification of hearing loss (HL) in this population.

Design

Retrospective longitudinal study analyzing secondary data from medical records.

Setting

Special Care Unit at the Hospital for Rehabilitation of Craniofacial Anomalies.

Patients

Fifty-eight children aged 0 to 12 months diagnosed with isolated RS and CP.

Interventions

No interventions were performed.

Main Outcome Measures

Audiological assessments revealed a high prevalence of bilateral conductive HL ranging from mild to moderate severity.

Results

Most participants resided in São Paulo state and belonged to lower-upper socioeconomic backgrounds. The most frequent risk factor for early childhood HL was neonatal intensive care for more than 5 days. No statistically significant association was found between HL risk indicators and the presence of conductive HL.

Conclusions

Conductive HL was identified in 39.64% of children with isolated RS and CP, with a higher prevalence observed in females. The sample demonstrated no cases of permanent and disabling HL. We recommend implementing a standardized audiological assessment protocol for infants with isolated RS and CP during the first year of life, including tympanometry and air-conduction click-evoked auditory brainstem response (ABR), with bone conduction ABR and otoscopic examination performed when clinically indicated.