We discovered our daughter Olivia's hearing loss through the SWISH test at birth, but by about 18 months, it had worsened. Due to the fact that it had gotten worse, and because of the pattern of her hearing loss, the ENT and audiologist suspected Large Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome (LVAS) and ordered a CAT scan and MRI.
We have benefitted in so many ways from knowing the cause - our life has had a complete turn around. Olivia now has a hearing aid and is getting help from the Department of Education as it is likely that her hearing could continue to deteriorate. Also we know that knocks to the head, flying, scuba diving and a few other things could also cause her to loose more hearing (not that we can really stop a 2 year old hitting her head but at least we we know to get her hearing tested if she does). At the time, I didn't really want to put her under anaesthetic again as she had already had an operation to unblock her tear ducts. Now that it is over and we know the cause, I am VERY glad I did.
Sharon - Mum to Olivia, aged 2 with bilateral LVAS
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18-Feb-2022 8:00 AM (AEST)