Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluation of Hearing Loss in Congenital Hypothyroid Children at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Central India

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Hearing loss has long been associated with congenital hypothyroidism and, if not noticed and treated early, may result in delayed language acquisition and difficulties in comprehension. In light of the implications of congenital hypothyroidism and its associated hearing loss, we decided to conduct this study. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of hearing loss in congenital hypothyroidism and its relation to the severity of the disease and age of initiation of treatment. This study was conducted from July 2016 to June 2021 at a tertiary care hospital in Bhopal. The hearing status of congenital hypothyroid children and matched controls was assessed by pure tone audiometry or free field audiometry and, in selected cases, with brainstem evoked response audiometry. Eight children (25%) with congenital hypothyroidism had hearing loss, compared to one (3.12%) in the control group (p < 0.05). No statistically significant difference has been found in the gender, mean age of diagnosis, mean age of initiation of levothyroxine treatment, mean screening FT4 levels, and mean screening TSH levels between congenital hypothyroid children with and without hearing loss. Due to the high prevalence of hearing loss in congenital hypothyroidism and its impact on language and cognitive development, it is critical to create awareness among healthcare professionals that children diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism must undergo audiological evaluation at the time of diagnosis and periodically thereafter. Alternatively, children with unexplained hearing loss must be screened for congenital hypothyroidism.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. DeLong GR, Stanbury JB, Fierro-Benitez R (2008) Neurological signs in congenital iodine-deficiency disorder (endemic cretinism). Dev Med Child Neurol 27(3):317–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Prezioso G, Giannini C, Chiarelli F (2018) Effect of thyroid hormones on neurons and neurodevelopment. Horm Res Paediatr 90(2):73–81

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Sohmer H, Freeman S (1996) The importance of thyroid hormone for auditory development in the fetus and neonate. Audiol Neurootol 1(3):137–147

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Andrade CLO, Machado GC, Fernandes LDC, Albuquerque JM, Casais-E-Silva LL, Ramos HE et al (2017) Mechanisms involved in hearing disorders of thyroid ontogeny: a literature review. Arch Endocrinol Metab 61(5):501–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Heuer H (2011) Hear, hear! Thyroid hormone transporters in cochlear development. Endocrinology 152(12):4478–4480

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Knipper M, Zinn C, Maier H, Praetorius M, Rohbock K, Köpschall I et al (2000) Thyroid hormone deficiency before the onset of hearing causes irreversible damage to peripheral and central auditory systems. J Neurophysiol 83(5):3101–3112

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Andrade CLO et al (2017) Mechanisms involved in hearing disorders of thyroid ontogeny: a literature review. Arch Endocrinol Metab 61(5):501–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Deol MS (1976) The role of thyroxine in the differentiation of the organ of Corti. Acta Otolaryngol 81(5–6):429–435

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Uziel A, Pujol R, Legrand C, Legrand J (1983) Cochlear synaptogenesis in the hypothyroid rat. Brain Res 283(2–3):295–301

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Berbel P, Guadaño-Ferraz A, Martínez M, Quiles JA, Balboa R, Innocenti GM (1993) Organization of auditory callosal connections in hypothyroid adult rats. Eur J Neurosci 5(11):1465–1478

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Sharlin DS, Visser TJ, Forrest D (2011) Developmental and cell-specific expression of thyroid hormone transporters in the mouse cochlea. Endocrinology 152(12):5053–5064

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Cordas EA, Ng L, Hernandez A, Kaneshige M, Cheng SY, Forrest D (2011) Thyroid hormone receptors control developmental maturation of the middle ear and the size of the ossicular bones. Endocrinology 153(3):1548–1560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ng L, Goodyear RJ, Woods CA, Schneider MJ, Diamond E, Richardson GP et al (2004) Hearing loss and retarded cochlear development in mice lacking type 2 iodothyronine deiodinase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101(10):3474–3479

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Lichtenberger-Geslin L, Dos Santos S, Hassani Y, Ecosse E, Van Den Abbeele T, Léger J (2013) Factors associated with hearing impairment in patients with congenital hypothyroidism treated since the neonatal period: a national population-based study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 98(9):3644–3652

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Rovet J, Walker W, Bliss B, Buchanan L, Ehrlich R (1996) Long-term sequelae of hearing impairment in congenital hypothyroidism. J Pediatr 128(6):776–783

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Vanderschueren-Lodeweyckx M, Debruyne F, Dooms L, Eggermont E, Eeckels R (1983) Sensorineural hearing loss in sporadic congenital hypothyroidism. Arch Dis Child 58(6):419–422

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Bruno R, Aversa T, Catena M, Valenzise M, Lombardo F, De Luca F et al (2015) Even in the era of congenital hypothyroidism screening mild and subclinical sensorineural hearing loss remains a relatively common complication of severe congenital hypothyroidism. Hear Res 327:43–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Wasniewska M, De Luca F, Siclari S, Salzano G, Messina MF, Lombardo F et al (2002) Hearing loss in congenital hypothalamic hypothyroidism: a wide therapeutic window. Hear Res 172(1–2):87–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Gordon N, Ward S (1995) Abnormal response to sound and central auditory processing disorder. Dev Med Child Neurol 37(7):645–652

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Barett KA (1985) Hearing and immittance screening of school age children. In: Katz J (ed) Handbook of clinical audiology, 3rd edn. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, pp 621–641

    Google Scholar 

  21. Léger J, Olivieri A, Donaldson M, Torresani T, Krude H, van Vliet G, Polak M, Butler G, ESPE-PES-SLEP-JSPE-APEG-APPES-ISPAE, Congenital Hypothyroidism Consensus Conference Group (2014) European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology consensus guidelines on screening, diagnosis, and management of congenital hypothyroidism. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 99(2):363–384. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2013-1891

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Almagor T, Rath S, Nachtigal D, Sharroni Z, Elias-Assad G, Hess O, Havazelet G, Zehavi Y, Spiegel R, Bercovich D, Almashanu S, Tenenbaum-Rakover Y (2021) High prevalence of hearing impairment in primary congenital hypothyroidism. Eur Thyroid J 10(3):215–221. https://doi.org/10.1159/000509775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Russ SA, White K, Dougherty D et al (2010) Preface: newborn hearing screening in the United States: historical perspective and future directions. Pediatrics 126(Suppl 1):S3-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Hull FM, Mielke PW, Willeford JA (1976) National speech and hearing survey (final report, project no. 59078). US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington, DC

  25. Brookhouser PE (1993) NIH consensus development conference, early identification of hearing impairment in infants and young children. Incidence/prevalence. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda

  26. John M, Balraj A, Kurien M (2009) Neonatal screening for hearing loss: pilot study from a tertiary care center. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 61:23–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-009-0028-2

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Joint Committee on Infant Hearing 1994 position statement. ASHA 36(12):38–41 (1994)

  28. Conway CM, Pisoni DB, Kronenberger WG (2009) The importance of sound for cognitive sequencing abilities: the auditory scaffolding hypothesis. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 18(5):275–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Davis JM, Elfenbein J, Schum R, Bentler RA (1986) Effects of mild and moderate hearing impairments on language, educational, and psychosocial behavior of children. J Speech Hear Disord 51(1):53–62

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Karolyi IJ, Dootz GA, Halsey K, Beyer L, Probst FJ, Johnson KR et al (2007) Dietary thyroid hormone replacement ameliorates hearing deficits in hypothyroid mice. Mamm Genome 18(8):596–608

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Forrest D, Erway LC, Ng L, Altschuler R, Curran T (1996) Thyroid hormone receptor beta is essential for development of auditory function. Nat Genet 13(3):354–357

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Thornton AR, Jarvis SJ (2008) Auditory brainstem response findings in hypothyroid and hyperthyroid disease. Clin Neurophysiol 119(4):786–790

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Brucker-Davis F, Skarulis MC, Pikus A, Ishizawar D, Mastroianni MA, Koby M et al (1996) Prevalence and mechanisms of hearing loss in patients with resistance to thyroid hormone. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 81(8):2768–2772

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Brucker-Davis F, Skarulis MC, Grace MB, Benichou J, Hauser P, Wiggs E et al (1995) Genetic and clinical features of 42 kindreds with resistance to thyroid hormone: The National Institutes of Health Prospective Study. Ann Intern Med 123(8):572–583

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Vikas M, Shukla G, Naresh B (2002) Hearing profile in hypothyroidism. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 54:285–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vidisha, India

    Praveen Kumar Thakur

  2. ENT Department, F H Medical College & Hospital, Etmadpur, Agra, 283202, India

    Rajeev Kumar Nishad

  3. ENT Department, Chirayu Medical College & Hospital, Bhopal, India

    Anil Kumar Jain

Authors
  1. Praveen Kumar Thakur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rajeev Kumar Nishad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anil Kumar Jain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rajeev Kumar Nishad.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

The permission was taken from Institutional Ethics Committee prior to staring the project. All procedures performed in studies involving human participant were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Disclosure

This material has never been published and is not currently under evaluation in any other peer reviewed publication.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Thakur, P.K., Nishad, R.K. & Jain, A.K. Evaluation of Hearing Loss in Congenital Hypothyroid Children at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Central India. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 74 (Suppl 3), 4393–4398 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-021-03063-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-021-03063-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation