A High Risk of Missing Congenital Cytomegalovirus-Associated Hearing Loss through Newborn Hearing Screening in Japan

Shujiro Bando Minami; Yoshiharu Yamanobe; Atsuko Nakano; Hirokazu Sakamoto; Sawako Masuda; Tetsuya Takiguchi; Sayaka Katsunuma; Tomoko Sugiuchi; Noriko Morita; Kimitaka Kaga; Tatsuo Matsunaga

doi:10.3390/jcm10215056

A High Risk of Missing Congenital Cytomegalovirus-Associated Hearing Loss through Newborn Hearing Screening in Japan

J Clin Med. 2021 Oct 29;10(21):5056. doi: 10.3390/jcm10215056.

Authors

Shujiro Bando Minami^{1

2}, Yoshiharu Yamanobe³, Atsuko Nakano⁴, Hirokazu Sakamoto⁵, Sawako Masuda⁶, Tetsuya Takiguchi⁷, Sayaka Katsunuma⁸, Tomoko Sugiuchi⁹, Noriko Morita¹⁰, Kimitaka Kaga², Tatsuo Matsunaga^{2

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otolaryngology, National Hospital Organization Tokyo Medical Center, 2-5-1 Higashigaoka, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8902, Japan.
² Division of Hearing and Balance Research, National Institute of Sensory Organs, National Hospital Organization Tokyo Medical Center, 2-5-1 Higashigaoka, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8902, Japan.
³ Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan.
⁴ Division of Otolaryngology, Chiba Children's Hospital, 579-1 Hetacho, Midori-ku, Chiba-shi 266-0007, Chiba, Japan.
⁵ Department of Otolaryngology, Graduate School of Medicine Osaka City University, 1-4-3, Asahimachi, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi 545-8585, Osaka, Japan.
⁶ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, National Hospital Organization Mie National Hospital, 357 Osato-Kubota, Tsu 514-0125, Mie, Japan.
⁷ Department of Otolaryngology, National Hospital Organization Kanazawa Medical Center, 1-1 Shimoishibiki-machi, Kanazawa-shi 920-8650, Ishikawa, Japan.
⁸ Department of Otolaryngology, Hyogo Prefectural Kobe Children's Hospital, 1-6-7 Minatojima Minami-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe-shi 650-0047, Hyogo, Japan.
⁹ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kanto Rosai Hospital, 1-1 Kizukisumiyoshi-cho, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi 211-8510, Kanagawa, Japan.
¹⁰ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Teikyo University Hospital, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8606, Japan.
¹¹ Medical Genetics Center, National Hospital Organization Tokyo Medical Center, 2-5-1 Higashigaoka, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8902, Japan.

Abstract

It remains unclear to what extent newborn hearing screening (NHS) detects congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV)-associated sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in Japan. This study aimed to clarify the NHS results and audiological characteristics of patients with cCMV-associated SNHL. A total of 541 individuals with unilateral or bilateral hearing loss of unknown etiology were examined for cCMV infection. cCMV infection was defined by the presence of CMV DNA in the dried umbilical cord detected using real-time quantitative PCR. NHS results and audiological data were retrospectively obtained from medical records. Forty-four cases (8.1%) were positive for cCMV infection. Of them, 33 cases underwent NHS and 13 cases (39.4%) passed NHS bilaterally. The pure-tone audiograms of 21 patients were obtained. There were seven cases of unilateral SNHL, five cases of asymmetric bilateral SNHL, and nine cases of symmetric bilateral SNHL. cCMV-related hearing loss is highly heterogeneous, and there is a high risk of missing this condition through NHS.

Keywords: cytomegalovirus; newborn hearing screening; umbilical cord.

Abstract

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