• Emrah Can, Ayşegül Verim, Engin Başer, and Nurkan İnan.
• * Edirne State Hospital, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit , Edirne , Turkey.
• Int J Audiol. 2015 Feb 1; 54 (2): 89-95.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the prevalence of auditory neuropathy (AN) in late preterms treated with phototherapy for hyperbilirubinemia.DesignProspective observational study comprising late preterms treated with phototherapy for hyperbilirubinemia. Newborns were screened with combined transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) / automated auditory brainstem responses (AABR). Infants who failed screening underwent diagnostic (ABR). Infants were all re-evaluated with AABR at one year.Study SampleEighty-five infants with a mean serum total bilirubin concentration of 22.3 ± 1.76 mg/dl; severe-hyperbilirubinemia (SH), and 102 infants with a mean serum total bilirubin concentration of 18.6 ± 1.26 mg/dl; non-severe hyperbilirubinemia (NSH) were included.ResultsFrom 85 late preterms with SH, six (7.1%) failed screening and underwent diagnostic ABR for six weeks. AN was diagnosed in two (2%) infants with SH. Four (3.9%) of the 102 controls with NSH demonstrated failure at TEOAE/AABR. No AN was diagnosed in the control group at the diagnostic ABR. No statistically significant difference was found between infants treated with phototherapy for SH and NSH with regard to AN/AD either in the postnatal period or at one year. No correlation was found between serum bilirubin levels and ABR latencies or thresholds.ConclusionsAN (2%) in late preterms treated with phototherapy for severe-hyperbilirubinemia was not higher than in those with non-severe hyperbilirubinemia.

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