Background and Aims Congenital hypothyroidism is mainly diagnosed through neonatal screening program. Normal physical and mental development can be maintained with pertinent replacement therapy. One of the associated abnormalities in these patients is the sensorineural hearing defect, which has a prevalence of about 20% according to relevant references. The purpose of this study was to obtain the prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss in children with congenital hypothyroidism identified in the screening program in Qazvin, Iran.

Methods All patients afflicted with congenital hypothyroidism identified in the screening program (in Qazvin, Iran) were enrolled in this study. They were both under observed and hormonal replacement therapy by referral Endocrine Diseases Clinic and auditory brainstem responses test (ABR) was performed for all subjects.

Results Of 169 patients with congenital hypothyroidism, 42.3% were female. The prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss was 5.3% (6 male, 2 female). Statistical analysis did not reveal any significant difference between the prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss with other variables of the study.

Conclusions A remarkable difference was observed between the results of our study with those stated in the references. Normal sensorineural hearing can be maintained with pertinent replacement therapy.