Hyperbilirubinemia and Follow-Up Auditory Brainstem Responses in Preterm Infants
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Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology Vol. 12, No. 2: 163-168, May 2019 https://doi.org/10.21053/ceo.2018.00899 pISSN 1976-8710 eISSN 2005-0720 Original Article Hyperbilirubinemia and Follow-up Auditory Brainstem Responses in Preterm Infants Gi-Sung Nam1 ·Sang Hyun Kwak2·Seong Hoon Bae2·Sung Huhn Kim2·Jinsei Jung2,* ·Jae Young Choi2,* 1Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju; 2Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Objectives. Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is considered one of the most common causative factors of hearing loss. Preterm infants are more vulnerable to neuronal damage caused by hyperbilirubinemia. This study aimed to evaluate the ef- fect of hyperbilirubinemia on hearing threshold and auditory pathway in preterm infants by serial auditory brain- stem response (ABR). In addition, we evaluate the usefulness of the unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) level compared with total serum bilirubin (TSB) on bilirubin-induced hearing loss. Methods. This study was conducted on 70 preterm infants with hyperbilirubinemia who failed universal newborn hearing screening by automated ABR. The diagnostic ABR was performed within 3 months after birth. Follow-up ABR was conducted in patients with abnormal results (30 cases). TSB and UCB concentration were compared according to hearing threshold by ABR. Results. The initial and maximal measured UCB concentration for the preterm infants of diagnostic ABR ≥40 dB nHL group (n=30) were statistically higher compared with ABR ≤35 dB nHL group (n=40) (P=0.031 and P=0.003, re- spectively). In follow-up ABR examination, 13 of the ABR ≥40 dB nHL group showed complete recovery, but 17 had no change or worsened. There was no difference in bilirubin level between the recovery group and non-recovery group. Conclusion. UCB is a better predictor of bilirubin-induced hearing loss than TSB in preterm infants as evaluated by serial ABR. Serial ABR testing can be a useful, noninvasive methods to evaluate early reversible bilirubin-induced hearing loss in preterm infants. Keywords. Hyperbilirubinemia; Bilirubin; Auditory Brain Stem Evoked Responses; Premature Infant INTRODUCTION an important risk factor for neonatal hearing loss. In preterm in- fants, the clinical significance of relationship between hyperbili- Hyperbilirubinemia in infants is the major leading cause of neo- rubinemia and hearing loss is well reported [1,2]. It is also known natal intensive care unit (NICU) treatment and is known to be that the auditory pathway is one of the most vulnerable area of the central nervous system for bilirubin neurotoxicity. However, • Received June 11, 2018 the correlation between bilirubin levels and hearing outcome is Revised August 6, 2018 Accepted September 14, 2018 still unclear. This is because bilirubin exposure cannot be accu- rately quantified, and auditory toxicity after exposure is also quite • Corresponding author: Jae Young Choi Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, variable, ranging from subtle to complete hearing loss [3]. Up to 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Korea 80% of preterm infants in NICU have a hyperbilirubinemia, Tel: +82-2-2228-3626, Fax: +82-2-393-0580 E-mail: [email protected] which often present as jaundice due to bilirubin deposition. To- • Co-Corresponding author: Jinsei Jung tal serum bilirubin (TSB) concentration >25 mg/dL or above is Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, used to determine whether phototherapy and transfusion are 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Korea Tel: +82-2-2228-3626, Fax: +82-2-393-0580 needed, but it has been reported that high levels of free uncon- E-mail: [email protected] jugated bilirubin (UCB) causes neuronal toxicity through the *These authors contributed equally to this work. blood-brain barrier [4,5]. Bilirubin is a type of neurotoxic sub- Copyright © 2019 by Korean Society of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 163 164 Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology Vol. 12, No. 2: 163-168, May 2019 stance that inhibits mitochondrial enzymes and DNA synthesis, Auditory brainstem response which blocks excitatory signaling of the nerves. Although biliru- All NICU children in our hospital participate a two-stage AABR bin has been reported to damage cochlear nuclei and accumula- examination. The result of AABR was assumes an infant as pass- tion bilirubin in the auditory pathway, the mechanism of biliru- ing the test when both ears were reacted to 35 dB nHL click bin-induced hearing loss has not been clearly established [6]. In sound stimulus. When the first test failed to pass, a retest was preterm infants, precise relation between bilirubin levels and performed at intervals of 1 day or more. Infants who did not hearing threshold, including newborn hearing screening and di- pass the AABR examination were referred to department of agnostic auditory brainstem response (ABR) is largely unknown. ENT for diagnostic ABR, considered as decision tools of hearing The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of hyperbiliru- loss. The result of ABR was defined abnormal when the infant’s binemia on hearing threshold and auditory pathway in preterm hearing threshold exceed more than 40 dB nHL in at least one infants by serial ABR. In addition, we evaluated the usefulness ear. Those infants with hearing threshold ≥40 dB nHL at diag- of the UCB concentration as compared with TSB in predicting nostic ABR examination, performed follow-up ABR within 3 to bilirubin-induced hearing loss in preterm infants. 6 months. ABR hearing thresholds were defined as the smallest stimulus sound that can be observed with a V wave, ranging from 25 dB nHL to 90 dB nHL at 5 dB nHL intervals. Latency MATERIALS AND METHODS of wave V was calculated at 90 dB nHL sound stimulation. Patients Bilirubin measurement All preterm infants, under 37 weeks gestational age, who were Blood samples for the measurement of TSB and UCB were per- admitted to the NICU of the Severance Hospital for the treat- formed by neonatologists in NICU. Bilirubin concentration was ment of hyperbilirubinemia from January 2013 to December examined in the first 5 postnatal days or when clinically indicat- 2017 were eligible for the study. All preterm infants were treated ed. Bilirubin measurements were performed using conventional for hyperbilirubinemia according to the new 2007 guideline, laboratory techniques (standard colorimetric method). The UCB which treatment threshold were 25% lower than previous concentration was calculated by subtracting the direct bilirubin guideline [7]. Of these, 85 infants were referred from universal from the TSB concentration. Initial and serum peak level of bili- newborn hearing screening (UNHS) by automated ABR (AABR) rubin concentration was checked during NICU admission. examination. Exclusion criteria included chromosomal abnor- malities, TORCH (toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus and Statistical analysis herpes simplex) infections, and cases where baseline testing All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS ver. 12.0 (SPSS could not be completed. So, the selected study population were Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The difference in parameters between 70 infants (Fig. 1). Risk factor that might be vulnerable to biliru- two groups was tested using independent t-test. Spearman cor- bin-induced hearing loss (Apgar score <5 at 5 minutes, clinical relation analysis was used to identify linear associations between sepsis, intraventricular hemorrhage grades 3 and 4, PCO2 >60 two variables. The sensitivity and specificity of bilirubin level as torr, PO2 <45 torr, and PH <7.25) were recorded for each pa- tient during the study period. The study was approved by Insti- tutional Review Board of the Yonsei University Severance Hos- Preterm infants of hyperbilirubinemia in NICU pital (IRB No. 4-2018-0372). Since this is a retrospective study, no informed consent was obtained. 15 Excluded based 85 AABR referred on exclusion criteria 70 Study population H I G H L I G H T S 40 ABR ≤35 dB 30 ABR ≥40 dB Serial auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing can be a nHL nHL useful, noninvasive methods to evaluate early reversible biliru- bin-induced hearing loss in preterm infants. Unconjugated bilirubin is a better predictor than total serum 13 Complete recovery 17 Unchanged or bilirubin in preterm infants as evaluated by serial ABR. (43.33%) worsened (56.67%) Our results highlight the importance of early detection and careful counselling for bilirubin-induced hearing loss of the Fi g. 1. Flow diagram with included and hearing characteristics of preterm infants. preterm infants in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). AABR, auto- mated ABR; ABR, auditory brainstem response. Nam GS et al. ABR in Preterm Infants of Hyperbilirubinemia 165 predictors of hearing loss were evaluated using receiver operat- en in Fig. 1. Of these 70 infants, 40 were identified as normal ing characteristic (ROC) curves. All data are presented as means hearing (≤35 dB nHL) and 30 were identified as abnormal and standard deviations. A P-value <0.05 was considered to re- hearing (≥40 dB nHL) in the diagnostic ABR. The follow-up flect statistically significance. ABR performed within 3–6 months showed complete recovery (≤35 dB nHL) in 13 (43.33%), unchanged or worsened in 17 (56.67%) (Fig. 1). Of these 17, eight performed additional fol- RESULTS low-up ABR within 12 months, two were recovered to normal hearing. During the study period, 85 infants who suffered from hyperbil- The clinical characteristics, risk factors of study population are irubinemia did not pass the newborn hearing screening and per- given in Table 1. The mean gestational age and birthweight for formed diagnostic ABR. Fifteen were excluded based on pre- the preterm infants were 31.4±4.4 weeks and 1,552.1±794.8 g, defined exclusion criteria.