Frequency of hearing loss among children diagnosed with retinoblastoma after using carboplatin chemotherapy

Abstract

Background: Retinoblastoma is a rare form of cancer. The retina, which is the layer of cells at the back of your eye that senses light, is where retinoblastoma begins. It's the most prevalent type of eye cancer in Pediatric population. Chemotherapy is the process of killing cancer cells with drugs. This kind of cancer treatment functions by preventing the growth and division of cancer cells.

Objective: To determine the frequency of hearing loss among children diagnosed with retinoblastoma after using carboplatin chemotherapy.

Methodology: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to find out the frequency of asymmetrical hearing loss in the retinoblastoma population.  A sample of 21 patients, both male and female babies, was taken using the non-probability purposive sampling technique. This study was conducted in two hospitals (Children Hospital Lahore and INMOL Cancer Hospital). The duration of this study was 6 months, from June 2023 to November 2023. Patients with aged 0 to 2 years were included. Patients with other comorbid factors like congenital anomalies and disabled babies were excluded. A structure questionnaire and OAEs were used to accumulate the data. Data was analyzed through (SPSS) version 24.0 package.

Results: Out of 21 patients, the patients who were diagnosed with retinoblastoma were 21 (100%) in number, the patients with ages 0 to 8 months were 12 (57.1%) in number, female babies were 11 (52.4%) in number, and the patients who referred OAES were 7 (33.3%) in number in the right ear and were also 7 (33.3%) in number in the left ear.

Conclusion: The study concluded that some retinoblastoma patients who underwent carboplatin treatment experienced bilateral hearing loss.