CONCLUSION: Term infants with a low Apgar score have cochlear impairment, mainly at the frequencies 1-3 kHz. Compared with infants with both a low Apgar score and hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy we reported before, the impairment is less severe. OBJECTIVE: To detect any peripheral impairment of cochlear origin in infants with a low Apgar score. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Fifty-four term infants with a low Apgar score at 1 and/or 5 min but without clinical signs of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy were recruited. Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) were recorded with the f2 primary tone at 10 frequencies (0.5-10 kHz) on days 3-5 and 1 month after birth. RESULTS: On days 3-5 DPOAE pass rates at most frequencies tended to be decreased, and were significant lower than those in normal term controls at 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 10 kHz (chi2=4.49-40.31, p<0.05-0.005). The greatest difference occurred at 1 kHz; 18.5% failed the DPOAE test and this was significantly higher than in the controls (4.3%, chi2=7.65, p<0.01). At 1 month the DPOAE pass rate at most frequencies did not show any significant improvement. The overall failure rate (14.8%) did not differ significantly from that on days 3-5.
CONCLUSION: Term infants with a low Apgar score have cochlear impairment, mainly at the frequencies 1-3 kHz. Compared with infants with both a low Apgar score and hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy we reported before, the impairment is less severe. OBJECTIVE: To detect any peripheral impairment of cochlear origin in infants with a low Apgar score. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Fifty-four term infants with a low Apgar score at 1 and/or 5 min but without clinical signs of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy were recruited. Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) were recorded with the f2 primary tone at 10 frequencies (0.5-10 kHz) on days 3-5 and 1 month after birth. RESULTS: On days 3-5 DPOAE pass rates at most frequencies tended to be decreased, and were significant lower than those in normal term controls at 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 10 kHz (chi2=4.49-40.31, p<0.05-0.005). The greatest difference occurred at 1 kHz; 18.5% failed the DPOAE test and this was significantly higher than in the controls (4.3%, chi2=7.65, p<0.01). At 1 month the DPOAE pass rate at most frequencies did not show any significant improvement. The overall failure rate (14.8%) did not differ significantly from that on days 3-5.