Covid-19 infection in pregnant women: Auditory evaluation in infants.

 Recent studies showed that COVID-19 infection can affect cochleo-vestibular system. The possibility of a vertical transmission is controversial. Some studies suggested that it is possible but unlikely, others find no evidence of vertical transmission. The objective of this study was to investigate whether exposure to COVID-19 during pregnancy or at birth has an impact on the hearing of the offspring. As part of the national hearing screening program, we performed in all newborns between January 2022 and February 2023, TEOAEs (Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions) at birth and at 3 months. For those "REFER" at the third month test, we performed aABR (Automatic Auditory Brainstem Response) at 6 months. We analysed separately result between infants born to COVID-positive mothers during pregnancy and those born to COVID-negative mothers. To statistical verify differences we performed "Chi-square test". We enrolled a total of 157 infants, of whom 16 were born to mothers who had a molecular PCR test positive for COVID-19. In the latter we tested a total of 32 ears and only 1 ear (3,1%) resulted "REFER". On the other hand, in the control group we tested a total of 282 ears and 22 (7,8%) were found to be "REFER". Our study showed no significant differences in audiological assessment between newborns exposed to COVID-19 infection during pregnancy or at birth compared to the unexposed group. However, further studies with a larger patient's sample will be necessary for a more comprehensive evaluation.

Hypocalcemia and hypercalcitoninemia in critically ill children.

To study Ca metabolism in critically ill children, we measured ionized Ca (Ca2+), parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin, 25 hydroxycholecalciferol (25[OH] D3), 1-25 dihydroxycholecalciferol (1-25[OH]2D3, and gastrin levels in critically ill children and in healthy controls. Patients were considered hypocalcemic if Ca2+ was less than 1.1 mmol/L. Six (14%) of 45 patients were hypocalcemic. Five hypocalcemic patients were studied and were found to have higher calcitonin levels than normocalcemic patients and healthy controls and higher PTH levels than healthy controls. 25(OH)D3 and 1-25(OH)2D3 were not significantly different in the three groups of patients. Gastrin levels were low in critically ill patients, whether or not they were hypocalcemic. We conclude that hypocalcemia occurs frequently in critically ill children. It is associated with raised levels of calcitonin and PTH. The mechanism for the increase in calcitonin is unknown.