Researchers say vision problems may be common among children who already have sensorineural hearing loss.

MedPage Today (2/16, Phend) reported that, according to a study published in the Feb. issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery, "vision problems are common among children who already have sensorineural hearing loss." During their "retrospective medical record review" of "226 children ages 18 and younger with sensorineural hearing loss and ophthalmologic evaluation...from 2000 through 2007," David H. Chi, M.D., of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and colleagues found that "the occurrence of ophthalmologic findings in children with sensorineural hearing loss was 21.7 percent, including refractive problems in 10.2 percent of the children and non-refractive abnormalities in 12.8 percent." Therefore, the authors "recommended routine ophthalmologic examination for all children with sensorineural hearing loss in order to make an early diagnosis and start interventions to maximize visual acuity." Medscape (2/16, Barclay) also covered the story.