Avaliação auditiva periférica em crianças com síndrome de Down Peripherical hearing evaluation in children with Down syndrome

ABSTRACT Purpose: This study sought to characterize the peripheral auditory sys-tem of individuals with Down syndrome (DS) using conventional and high-frequency audiometry. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional and observational study. Fifteen individuals with DS, who were of both genders and between 7 and 15 years of age, participated in this study. The following procedures were performed: otoscopy, tympanometry with ipsilateral and contralateral acoustic reflex, pure-tone audiometry, vocal audiometry and high-frequency audiometry. Results: There was a predominance of mild conductive hearing loss in one or both ears. The mean hearing thresholds for conventional audiometry were below 20 dB HL and between 20 and 40 dB HL for high-frequency audiometry. The Pearson correlation coefficient indicated a moderate positive correlation between the 9-14 kHz thresholds and age. Conclusion: Overall, no significant differences were observed when comparing the right and left ears of individuals with DS, in regards to pure-tone audiometry, immit-tance testing and speech audiometry. Most children showed middle ear abnormalities and conductive hearing loss. Moreover, high-frequency audiometry suggested the onset of impaired cochlear function, which may be associated with frequent otitis media episodes and/or early cochlear degeneration.