Impianto cocleare nel bambino affetto da CMV: nostra esperienza.

Introduction. Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) represents the most frequent complication (50% of symptomatic newborns and 10% of asymptomatic newborns) affected by congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection. It can be bilateral or unilateral, it can vary in severity (from mild to profound) and has a late onset in approximately 40% of cases. Materials and methods. 23 patients were included in the study, enrolled from June 2021 to June 2022, who received a diagnosis of CMV within the first three months of life, 18 patients (approximately 78%), within the first month of life and 5 (approximately 22%) in the prenatal phase. Results. Of our patients, fourteen underwent cochlear implantation, 45% had severe to profound hearing loss, and 55% had bilateral profound hearing loss. The mean age of implantation was 26 months and the mean duration of follow-up was 24 months. Eight patients underwent bilateral simultaneous implantation, four bilateral sequential, and two unilateral. Patient evaluation included: perception score: percentage of word recognition on closed lists of words, score on expressive language (GALS scale): 0= prelinguistic, 1 = holophrastic, 2 = presyntactic, 3 = protosyntactic, 4= morphosyntactic 1, 5 = morphosyntactic 2; Auditory performance categories: from 0=no response to environmental sounds, to 7=telephone conversation with unknown person. Conclusions. The majority of children in our cohort benefited from cochlear implantation, although the significant neurodevelopmental comorbidities associated with CVM result in a negative impact on the outcomes of the CI itself.