Avaliação auditiva periférica em crianças com síndrome de Down

Figure-based speech perception test: applicability in children with Down syndrome

PURPOSE

To verify the applicability of the picture-based speech perception test in children with Down syndrome.

METHODS

Observational, descriptive, prospective study, carried out at two speech therapy centers, approved by their Research Ethics Committees under numbers 82522217.5.0000.5440 and 79510317.8.0000.5257. A total of 41 children with Down syndrome, of both sexes, aged 2 years to 10 years and 11 months participated. They were divided into three groups: GI (2 years to 4 years and 11 months); GII (5 years to 7 years and 11 months); GIII (8 years to 10 years and 11 months). We verified their medical history and carried out meatoscopy, pure-tone threshold audiometry, speech recognition threshold test with pictures, and immittance tests. For statistical analysis, we used Fisher's Exact Test with the 5% significance level. Results: The analysis of hits and misses in relation to chronological age revealed significance in seven words: "ice", "knife", "cow", "key", "mouse", "dog", and "sun". We then analyzed this study participants' performance in the speech test with pictures and those in the study that developed and validated this test. Comparing the percentage of correct answers in the two groups, we found that the words with the most correct answers were "hand", "house", and "frog". Conclusion: The test applied in this study provides a clear and objective interpretation of the results, regardless of the child's verbal production.

Prevalence of pressure equalization tube placement and hearing loss in children with down syndrome

OBJECTIVE

To determine the prevalence of pressure equalization tube (PET) placement and hearing loss in children with Down syndrome (DS).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We evaluated 90 DS children births between 1 and 11 years old and compared to 90 children without DS paired in sex and age. Medical records were analyzed consecutively. Were collected data about proceedings PET placement, age of the patient at each PET, adenoidectomy, tonsillectomy and results for audiometry and tympanometry.

RESULTS

Among the 90 patients with DS, 49 (54.4%) were male, median age of 58 months (15-143 months). In this group, 75 PET were placed in 26/90 children (28.9%) mostly between 3 and 5 years old. In 10/26 (38.5%) was necessary PET replaced. When compared to the control group- 6/90 (6.7%)- children with DS presented OR = 13.7 (95% CI 4.0-47.3) times more likely to use PET. Adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy (44.4% and 42.2% respectively) were significantly more frequent in DS group. The prevalence of hearing loss was 32.1% in the right ear and 26.9% in the left ear. Type B timpanometry was found in more than half of the patients with DS.

CONCLUSION

We found a 13-fold higher risk of PET in DS children, especially between the ages of 3-5 years. The high prevalence of hearing loss and PET placement in patients with DS reinforcing the importance of early and regular follow-up for hearing screening in this population, mostly in preschool-aged children.

Electrophysiological characterization of hearing in individuals with Down syndrome

Introduction

Few studies have performed Brainstem (BAEP) and P300 Auditory Evoked Potentials simultaneously to assess central auditory pathways in normal hearing individuals with Down syndrome (DS), mainly because of the difficulty in applying these procedures to this population. Previous studies have suggested that individuals with DS might present different patterns of response compared with those of individuals with typical development; nevertheless, the identification of these potentials would be crucial for the establishment of an accurate audiological diagnosis.

Purpose

To characterize BAEP and P300 in normal-hearing individuals with DS.

Methods

BAEP and P300 were analyzed in 17 individuals with DS and in 21 individuals with typical development aged 7 to 15 years. The results were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed using descriptive measures and hypothesis tests.

Results

In the quantitative analysis, latency values were lower in the BAEP for the DS group, with statistically significant difference for wave V and interpeaks III-V and I-V; there were no significant differences in the P300 latency values. In the qualitative analysis, there were a larger number of individuals with early values for BAEP latencies and late latencies for P300 in the DS group; both comparisons showed statistically significant differences.

Conclusion

Children and adolescents with DS can present early responses to the components of BAEP, suggesting that their auditory pathway requires less time for the neural transmission of acoustic stimuli to the brainstem. Concerning P300, individuals with DS may present increased latencies, suggesting impairment in the central auditory pathway for the cortical processing of auditory information.