Symposium on sensorineural hearing loss in children: early detection and intervention. Evaluation of the child with sensorineural hearing impairment.

When the physician is confronted with a child with sensorineural hearing impairment, he should do everything in his power to establish the cause of the hearing loss in order to diagnose those conditions that might be corrected or controlled and to counsel the parent concerning the child's future. Certain physical characteristic should alert the physician to the fact that there may be an accompanying sensorineural hearing loss. The family, gestational, and postnatal history may help establish this diagnosis. Finally, laboratory and x-ray examinations should be performed in an attempt to arrive at a definitive diagnosis.