Congenital Defects Causing Hearing Loss in Children

By definition, congenital hearing loss is present at birth.  There are specific congenital defects occurring during pregnancy that can cause hearing loss in children.  These congenital defects can include genetic causes, which are hereditary, or other types of defects which are not hereditary.  Hereditary causes of hearing loss are believed to be linked to chromosome defects in the genes passed along from parent to child.  Other defects are not related to heredity and can be caused by infection, medications or illnesses in the mother or the developing fetus.

Hereditary, or genetic defects, are sometimes present with no indication the child will be hearing impaired.  Some genes are considered to be recessive and neither parent will have hearing loss.  Other hereditary defects are associated with genes which are considered dominant.  In these cases, one or both parents will be hearing impaired due to a congenital defect.  Some genetic defects are related to the chromosomes which determine the sex of the child and are only passed along by the mother.  In these instances, a male child will often be born with hearing impairment while a female child will not.  Even though a female child inheriting this type of defect will not be hearing impaired, she will carry this same gene and may pass it along to her own offspring.

Congenital defects causing hearing loss are not exclusively hereditary.  Some defects are caused by an infection contracted by the fetus during pregnancy.  Intrauterine infections can include German measles and several strains of the herpes virus.  Premature birth can be another congenital cause of hearing loss, due to the fact the ear is among the last organs to fully form during development.  Often, after premature birth, a child is given oxygen and other life saving medications that can cause infant and childhood hearing loss.  The lifestyle of the mother can also be a factor; drug and alcohol use can cause complications which may cause congenital hearing loss.

Hearing loss in children is a complicated medical condition which can be caused by several factors, both hereditary and environmental.  It is important for all children to receive a hearing test at birth to determine if there is any amount of hearing loss.  Early diagnosis and treatment can lessen the developmental problems in childhood which are associated with hearing loss.  Hearing aids are often a means of allowing children to communicate with the world around them and learn at a similar pace with hearing children.

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