Patient: Hearing screening failed after birth, brainstem evoked non-response, can the diagnosis be confirmed and when is the best time to treat? Yin Shankai, Department of Otolaryngology, Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital: The result of auditory brainstem evoked potential test depends on the cooperation of the operating physician and the child, and can be reviewed after a period of time (e.g. at 6 months). How does the child usually respond to sound? What sounds can the child make now? Is there a history of special medication use during the mother’s pregnancy? Is there a family history of deafness? Has an MRI been done to determine if there is a congenital malformation of the internal auditory tract? If congenital severe sensorineural deafness is diagnosed, cochlear implantation may be attempted. Currently, children over the age of 1 can be candidates for cochlear implantation. Patient: The child does not usually respond significantly to sound either, but will shout loudly on his own. The mother did not take any medication during pregnancy, there is no family history, and no MRI or other tests have been done to clarify the presence of congenital malformations of the internal auditory tract. I am now undiagnosed and am preparing to go to a regular hospital to confirm the diagnosis. I wonder if flying a 4.5 month old child will aggravate her ear hearing? What precautions should be taken? Yin Shankai, Department of Otolaryngology, Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital: There should be no problem for the child to fly. MRI can be performed to find out if there are any inner ear deformities. Severe sensorineural deafness can be treated with hearing aids or cochlear implants. You can visit our outpatient clinic. Dr. Yin Shankai is available every Wednesday morning and Friday afternoon. Patient: What tests should my child have before wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants? Yin Shankai, Department of Otolaryngology, Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital: Due to the differences in equipment and technicians at each hospital, there is limited cross-referencing of test results from one hospital to another. You can go to the hospital where you are going to have a cochlear implant for the appropriate preoperative examination. In our hospital, we generally perform preoperative audiological examinations and MRI of the internal auditory tract.