1. Study of the central auditory function of children with microcephalia by Zika virus.
- Author
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Frizzo A. C. F., da Costa V. T., and Carnaúba A. T. L.
- Subjects
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AUDITORY evoked response , *MICROCEPHALY , *CONFERENCES & conventions , *LANGUAGE acquisition , *AUDIOMETRY , *ZIKA virus infections , *DISEASE complications , *CHILDREN - Abstract
Zika virus became an epidemic in Brazil from early 2015, with the first cases of suspected microcephaly caused by Zika virus confirmed in the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Pernambuco. Since then, research has highlighted the need for further investigations to better understand the physiology, symptoms and prognoses in order to better follow up children with congenital Zika virus syndrome. The impact of Zika virus on the development of children with microcephaly is still unknown. Congenital Zika virus infection syndrome has its worst expression when infection occurs in the first trimester of pregnancy. It is also known that the pattern of neurological disorder varies depending on the age at which the mother was infected. However, changes in central functions are expected in most patients with microcephaly and significantly impar neuropsychomotor development, vision and hearing. So far, studies show controversial results. This investigation was an opportunity to learn about the influence of this neurological condition on the electrophysiological parameters and also made possible to compare the findings of the Early Language Milestone Scale with the results of the electrophysiological exams. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study developed in the Audiology Sector of the two brazilians Universities. The study included 20 children of both genders, composed by the research group, with microcephaly due to congenital Zika virus syndrome and by the control group, comparison group. In this research cortical auditory evoked potential exams were performed and the language development scale, aiming to apply electrophysiological and behavioral measures to assess hearing and language. Longer values were observed in the latency of the N1-P2 components and greater amplitude of the N1 component of the auditory cortical potential in the research group. The scale also showed significant impairment in the linguistic development of the children in the research group. The Smart tools EP software used for neural response analysis showed abnormalities in neurotransmission of frequency spectral characteristics in the auditory pathway in children with Zika microcephaly in frequency domain analysis. The software calculations showed much higher slope and total area values in this population, also suggesting failure in the automated perception control of acoustic changes related to the activity of the N1 component. Electrophysiological and behavioral measurements showed a pattern of atypical development of the auditory and linguistic system in children with suspected microcephaly by Zika virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022