Cochlear deafness, myopia, and intellectual impairment in an Amish family

Pleiotropy in Coffin-Lowry syndrome: sensorineural hearing deficit and premature tooth loss as early manifestations

We report on 7 patients (6 M, 1 F) with Coffin-Lowry syndrome who have a sensorineural hearing deficit in addition to developmental delay and characteristic facial changes. One of the patients also had a history of premature exfoliation of primary teeth. These are previously unappreciated clinical signs that may aid in the early diagnosis of Coffin-Lowry syndrome. Early diagnosis and recognition of a hearing deficit in the patient can lead to the use of hearing aids to help the patient achieve his or her full potential. These "new" clinical manifestations expand the phenotype of Coffin-Lowry syndrome and constitute an additional indication of pleiotropy.

Congenital corneal anesthesia with retinal abnormalities, deafness, unusual facies, persistent ductus arteriosus, and mental retardation: a new syndrome?

Two sibs who had hypesthetic corneas, absence of the peripapillary choriocapillaris and retinal pigment epithelium, sensorineural hearing loss bilaterally, persistent ductus arteriosus, moderate mental retardation, and unusual facial appearance are described. Their mother had mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss, retinal changes and similar facial features. The differential diagnosis is discussed. We believe this is a clinically distinct syndrome with autosomal dominant inheritance.

A quasi-free-field transducer system for high-frequency audiometry

Previous attempts to measure human hearing capacity in the high frequencies (8 to 20 kHz) have only been met with rather limited success. Based on the results of Shaw and co-workers we have developed a free-field transducer system where the stimuli are delivered from a point source and meet the ear as plane progressive waves at a carefully chosen angle of incidence. The system can be calibrated in a precise manner by means of a specially designed coupler. Preliminary results indicate that the procedure is easily applicable also in a group of inexperienced test subjects and the test-retest variability was within such limits that are acceptable for subjective audiometric testing. These results require validation in a large group of subjects and we hope it will be possible to establish normative values for various age groups.