HEARING-LOSS AND THE MAYER-ROKITANSKY-KUSTER-HAUSER SYNDROME

The hearing of 51 female patients with the Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome was examined using otoscopy and standard audiometry. A unilateral or bilateral hearing loss of more than 15 dB Fletcher index was found in 13 of 51 (25.5%). Four of these 13 patients had a hearing loss of less than 20 dB in the worst ear. The remainder had a hearing loss of at least 30 dB in the worst ear. Five of the 13 patients had pure conductive hearing loss; in four of these five, a congenital origin was accepted. Two of the 13 had mixed hearing loss that was a residual symptom from previous otitis media; six had sensorineural hearing loss. A congenital cause was found in one of these six, based on the fact that she had been deaf and dumb since birth. In one other patient, noise-related deafness was likely (i.e., an acquired cause). In the other four cases in this group, the cause was unknown. The results of this study show that hearing loss is a characteristic associated with the Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome.