Hearing test may spot babies at risk for SIDS

A subtle difference in responses on a newborn hearing screening test may identify babies who are at risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), according to a new study.

A disruption of the function of the inner ear may interfere with not only hearing but also with a baby’s control of breathing during sleep, the researchers explain in the medical journal Early Human Development. This defect in the inner ear of newborns can be detected with a particular hearing test, called “transient evoked otoacoustic emission” or TEOAE.

Dr. Daniel D. Rubens from Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center, Seattle, and associates compared the TEOAE screening results of 31 infants who subsequently died of SIDS with those of 31 matched healthy babies.

The hearing responses tended to be higher on the right side than on the left among the normal babies, but tended to be higher on the left side in the infants who succumbed to SIDS.

“The direction of the asymmetry among the SIDS infants was reversed and it further supports the potential application of newborn hearing tests for identifying at-risk infants,” the investigators write.

They have planned several animal studies to investigate the possible association between inner ear damage and breathing control, and to shed light on the mystery of sudden infant death syndrome.

“The animal study findings will hopefully turn things around to substantiate the understanding of the mechanism of death,” Rubens said. “I expect results from the animal study within 3 to 6 months.”

SOURCE: Early Human Development, online July 3, 2007.

Print Version
Tell-a-Friend