28 October 2019
2019 Fellow - Dr Valerie Sung Understanding the best management for children with hearing loss
DR VALERIE SUNG
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Understanding the best management for children with hearing loss
Despite its incidence, the underlying causes of childhood hearing loss remains relatively unknown. It has only been in the past few years that scientists have gained more understanding of why some children are born with hearing or not. The lack of clarity around hearing loss makes it a difficult task for clinicians to recommend the best treatment and predict the challenges of the children at diagnosis.
Despite remarkable medical advances and earlier detection, hearing-impaired children still face significant challenges, their language/learning outcomes both poorer and less predictable than their normal hearing peers.
Clinicians search for clearer guidance to provide families about the best therapeutic options; trying to understand if hearing aids will be effective for infants with mild hearing loss, and how to better screen for cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common cause of hearing loss.
Given its high incidence and the missing gaps in our knowledge, this work will help to improve outcomes and alleviate the burdens for children with congenital hearing loss.