Impact on the first year of life of newborns with gestational infection by SARS-COV-2. Analysis of auditory effects

Introduction One of the causes of congenital hearing loss are infections suffered by the mother during pregnancy. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects on hearing in newborns to SARS-CoV-2 seropositive mothers during pregnancy. We also studied the hearing impact in the first year of life of the newborns to investigate whether neonatal infection produced a risk of infantile sensorineural hearing loss. Material and methods All children born in our center whose mother had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 positive COVID were included and were audiologically studied at two and a half months and at one year of life. All infants were evaluated by brainstem evoked response audiometry (BERA) and auditory steady-state responses (ASSR). Results The range of the latencies for BERA founded were inside the desired ranges of normality both at two and a half months and at one year of life No significant differences by sex and ears were found in the BERA performed (p > 0,05). The mean ASSR values were found to be significantly below 30 dB in all frequencies studied both at two and a half months, and at one year of life (p < 0,05). Conclusion There is no association between COVID-19 infection during pregnancy and neonatal hearing loss. Further studies are needed to clarify this field since it is still unclear whether pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 can produce hearing alterations in their newborns according to the current evidence in the literature.