My 2 yr old daughter has grade1 microtia of the left ear. she has tubes for recurrent infections but she seems to have hearing loss. is this possible?

Yes: The microtia may involve both the outer ear and the middle ear. Malformation of the middle ear or persistent severe ear infections may result in hearing loss.

Absolutely: Your child may have hearing loss due to congenital middle ear or inner ear problems related or unrelated to microtia. It can be due to the tube placement itself. I am sure you must have had hearing tests by your ENT specialist and they can advise you of the degree of loss and whether this will impact your child for speech/ language development. If there is not a recent hearing test, get a new one.

Microtia: Microtia is not that common of a problem, but when it occurs, a child will often have narrowing of the ear canal, which is called atresia. Most of these children do have some degree of hearing loss, which is considered conductive although can be sensorineural, too. This has a variety of causes. Best to have the hearing checked by an audiologist so that hearing loss can be treated early.