[Genetic causes of hearing loss--status and perspectives]

Hearing impairment, defined as > or = 40 dB hearing loss, is the most prevalent sensory handicap, present in 1:750 children and in 4-36% of adults, depending on age. Genetic factors are of major importance in more than 50% of all hearing loss. An important distinction is made between syndromic deafness and isolated deafness depending on the presence or not of associated manifestations from other organs. The knowledge about genetic deafness has increased dramatically in the last few years. As of March 1999, at least 53 loci for isolated deafness of different types of monogenic inheritance have been identified. Suspected genetic heterogeneity has thus been confirmed. At least 15 genes for syndromic deafness have been cloned, leading to increased biological insight in shared developmental pathways in different species and leading to better diagnostic tools applicable to patients. The identification of a particularly frequent mutation in a gap junction gene, GJB2 (connexin 26), may turn out to be of particular diagnostic importance in the aetiological evaluation of childhood deafness even in isolated cases. Application of early screening tests, like otoacoustic emission (OAE), in combination with genetic tests will facilitate early and specific diagnosis of hearing impairment and thereby improve audiological rehabilitation. Syndromic deafness involves all organs, and care for and evaluation of affected individuals should be a multiprofessional task.