Hearing in newborn infants of opiate-addicted mothers

To investigate effects of maternal drug abuse on neonatal hearing, auditory brain-stem evoked potentials were recorded in 132 consecutive newborn infants of mothers who had taken heroin or methadone during pregnancy, alongside 1016 neonates with and 483 hospitalized neonates without risk factors, as defined by the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing. In infants antenatally exposed to opiates, the rate of severe bilateral hearing impairment (≥50 dB) did not differ from that of hospitalized neonates without risk factors (1.5% vs 2.5%). In contrast, intra-uterine toxoplasmosis, syphilis, or cytomegalovirus infection, bilirubin serum concentrations >25 mg/dl, craniofacial anomalies, and mechanical ventilation for 5 days or more were independently associated with increased rates of severe hearing impairment by analysis of all 1631 infants studied. Conclusion Newborns of opiate-addicted mothers are not at increased risk for early onset hearing loss. Received: 1 July 1998 / Accepted: 17 November 1998