Hipoacusia neurosensorial bilateral infantil postCovid: A propósito de un caso

Case Report

Abstract

Introduction: During the pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 virus and after the acute phase, persistent symptoms have been reported as a sequel. In the ORL area, mainly odynophagia, dysphonia and tinnitus have been described. Hearing loss is not currently on the list of symptoms either pre or post COVID-19. However, some cases of sensorineural hearing loss have been reported around the world, especially weeks after overcoming the infection. Clinic Case: An 8-year-old male patient with no history of interest, who in march 2020 went to the emergency room for bronchospasm related to upper respiratory tract infection. Several months later, he presented a subjective sensation of hearing loss. Suspecting serous otitis media, treatment with intranasal corticosteroids was prescribed. In October 2020, he was referred to the ORL clinic due to persistent hearing loss with normal bilateral otoscopy. In Liminal Tone Audiometry (LTA), he presented moderate bilateral sensorineural hearing loss with bilateral A curves in impedance measurement. Evolution: During follow-up, the bilateral hearing loss described in Steady State Auditory Evoked Potentials (SESEP) was confirmed. In the etiological study and due to the date of onset of symptoms (beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic), serology with antibodies for SARS COV 2 was added, these being positive; the patient was not vaccinated and neither of the parents reported the history of said infection. Conclusions: Hearing loss, total or partial, is not currently on the list of symptoms of acute COVID-19 or persistent COVID, in addition to the fact that there is not enough evidence to link this symptom as a sequel of SARS-CoV-2 infection. High-quality studies are needed to determine long-term risks in the cochlear-vestibular area.