Prevalence of hearing loss in Rett syndrome

Abstract

This study examined the auditory status of females with Rett syndrome (RS) using auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing and measures of acoustic admittance. Prevalence of hearing impairment in 81 female patients (age range 1 year 3 months to 39 years 8 months; mean age 8 years 7 months, SD 6 years 4 months) was evaluated with ABR measurements. If the ABR latencies at 20dB nHL exceeded those of the normative group, a slight hearing loss was diagnosed. For ABR thresholds in the range 30 to 40dB nHL, a mild hearing loss was determined; moderate hearing loss was diagnosed for ABR thresholds in the range 50 to 60dB nHL. Bilateral hearing loss was found in 16 (19.3%) patients and unilateral hearing loss in 13 (16%) patients. Bilateral hearing loss of moderate degree was found in one patient. No patient was found with severe hearing loss (ABR threshold of 70dB nHL and above) in either ear. Slight hearing loss was found in 10.5% of ears (17 of 162), mild hearing loss in 14.2% of ears(23 of 162), and moderate hearing loss in 3.1% of ears (5 of 162). In 72.2% of ears (117 of 162), findings indicated the presence of normal peripheral auditory sensitivity. Prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss was 17.3% (28 of 162). Evidence of conductive involvement (conductive and mixed hearing loss) was observed in 9.9% of ears (16 of 162). In this cross‐sectional study, the prevalence of hearing loss was increased in older RS participants and in those with seizures requiring the use of anticonvulsants. Neither the type of hearing loss nor the presence of preserved speech seemed to be correlated with the type of mutation in methyl‐CpG‐binding protein 2 (MeCP2) gene that is associated with RS.

MeCP2: The Genetic Driver of Rett Syndrome Epigenetics

“…Although some of the RTT peripheral organ-related symptoms described above might also have a neuronal component (Cronk et al, 2016), the transcriptional regulatory role of MeCP2 of specific genes within the context of the cell types of the particular organs affected indicates an important role of the MeCP2 mutations within each specific tissue. As in the case of the impaired response to stimuli and stressors observed in RTT (Pillion et al, 2003;Rose et al, 2019), such specificity might also be MeCP2 isoform-dependent, as will be discussed in the next section.…”

Automatic cortical representation of auditory pitch changes in Rett syndrome

“…A number of studies have examined the auditory brainstem response (ABR) to very basic stimulus trains [10–13]. While these studies have revealed that early auditory processing is indeed different from healthy control participants, it is notable that these differences were often relatively subtle.…”

Familial unilateral deafness and delayed endolymphatic hydrops

“…In comparison to bilateral deafness, relatively little research has been directed to the genetic analysis of unilateral hearing loss, although it has been described in Waardenburg syndrome type I, Pendred syndrome, Rett syndrome, and Kallman syndrome [Levy and Knudtzon, 1993;Lalwani et al, 1996;Pillion et al, 2003]. The results of newborn hearing screening in the United States suggests that about 30% of all clinically significant losses that are detected are unilateral, with a total incidence of perhaps 0.6%, and hereditary congenital unilateral deafness has been recently proposed as a distinctive phenotype [Dikkers et al, 2005].…”