It is expected that 10/1000 infants from the NICU will be identified with hearing loss. Social factors such as consanguineous marriages may also increase the risk of hearing loss in a newborn. At times, although the baby may have passed the initial screening tests, they may still develop delayed onset hearing loss in the presence of high-risk factors. Some of the high-risk factors associated with hearing loss are (Source: Year 2007 Position Statement: Principles and Guidelines for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Programs):
- Family history of permanent childhood hearing loss.
- Neonatal intensive care of more than 5 days or any of the following regardless of length of stay: ECMO assisted ventilation, exposure to ototoxic medications (gentamycin and tobramycin) or loop diuretics (furosemide/Lasix), and hyperbilirubinemia that requires exchange transfusion.
- Infections during pregnancy, such as CMV, herpes, rubella, syphilis, and toxoplasmosis.
- Craniofacial anomalies, including those that involve the pinna, ear canal, ear tags, ear pits, and temporal bone anomalies.
- Physical findings, such as white forelock, that are associated with a syndrome known to include a sensorineural or permanent conductive hearing loss.
- Syndromes associated with hearing loss or progressive or late-onset hearing loss, such as neurofibromatosis, osteopetrosis, and Usher, Waardenburg, Alport, Pendred, and Jervell and Lange-Nielson syndromes.
- Neurodegenerative disorders, such as Hunter syndrome, or sensory motor neuropathies, such as Friedreich ataxia and Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome.
- Culture-positive postnatal infections associated with sensorineural hearing loss, including confirmed bacterial and viral (especially herpes viruses and varicella) meningitis.
- Head trauma, especially basal skull/temporal bone fracture that requires hospitalization.
- Chemotherapy