A 25th anniversary edition of the symposium of the Dutch/Flemish Working Group on Neonatal Neurology and the 25th anniversary of neonatal hearing screening. Everything came together for the NICU this year when they organized the symposium and were able to highlight the hearing screening.
Unique
‘Irma van Straaten was the driving force behind neonatal hearing screening at the time,’ says Pediatrician-Neonatologist Karin de Graaff. ‘She also obtained her PhD on this subject and implemented screening at the NICU in Zwolle 25 years ago and subsequently at all NICUs in the Netherlands.’ After Irma’s retirement, Karin took over the national coordinatorship. ‘This means that all NICUs with questions about hearing screening go to her. Every year, a return day is organized for all screeners, where the results of the screening program are reviewed together with all NICUs, and where possible quality improvements are also examined. There is close collaboration with TNO, which manages the database and with which a lot of research is conducted. That is a nice partnership. Internationally, the neonatal hearing screening program in the NICU is unique with such a good hearing screening program and follow-up data for years.’
Symposium
This year Isala organized the neonatal neurology symposium. ‘This symposium was first held 25 years ago with the aim of allowing young researchers to present their scientific results to the whole of the Netherlands,’ explains Pediatrician-Neonatologist Susanne Mulder. ‘But it has gradually grown into a whole day where the NICUs exchange knowledge and where you can profile yourself. The Flemish NICUs are now also connected. This year’s neonatal hearing screening fitted in very well with the theme “Connected Care in Neonatal Neurology”.
Signaling
‘Premature birth means that our patients have an increased risk of hearing loss in addition to factors such as infections, long-term ventilation and ototoxic medication. Early detection of hearing loss in the NICU also allows early intervention to be initiated and thus prevent impaired speech language development. So much good has already been achieved,” Karin explains.
Complement each other
During the symposium, attention was not only paid to hearing screening. Susanne: ‘Perinatologists, radiologists and rehabilitation physicians from Isala were also involved in the organization and the clinical geneticists and child neurologists from the UMCG, with whom we work closely, also had a role as chairman or speaker. Sometimes there has already been a long process prior to the NICU admission, for example because problems were already visible on the prenatal ultrasounds. But even after the NICU, there is a whole process for our youngest patients that involves many different healthcare providers. We work together more and better. Not next to each other, but we complement each other.’
Give
The visitors also appreciated the presentations. Susanne: ‘We were told that it is of absolute added value to look at the patient outside your field. There is a life before and a life after the NICU. That is also the strength of Isala. Compared to academic hospitals, we are smaller and organized differently, but we have the advantage of short lines of communication with all healthcare providers involved in the chain. The patient’s problems require fluid care paths in which the healthcare providers involved from different disciplines know each other and work closely together. I am happy that we have been able to pass this on to the Netherlands and Belgium.’
