Test for congenital CMV within weeks of a failed hearing screen, and early survivorship care linked to better radiotherapy adherence

The edition in brief

A summary of the 2025 German S2k guideline on congenital CMV, the leading infectious cause of childhood hearing loss, advises that a baby who fails both initial and repeat newborn hearing screening be tested promptly by CMV PCR on urine or saliva, and no later than the second to third week of life, so that antiviral treatment can be offered within the first 30 days. In a US cohort of 471 patients receiving curative radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, attending a multidisciplinary survivorship clinic before radiotherapy ended was associated with less non-adherence (OR 0.45) and better 3-year disease-free survival (HR 0.61), an observational finding. A randomised trial of 230 patients found open face masks with surface guidance gave set-up accuracy comparable to closed masks and a better patient experience. A meta-analysis of 29 studies found about 4% of children with cochlear implants stop using them and 9% use them part time, with later implantation linked to partial use. The pearl covers telling sudden sensorineural hearing loss apart from conductive loss at the bedside.