Seventeen patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) have been investigated audiologically. Of 9 found to have a significant hearing loss, 6 were examples of Usher's syndrome; these patients had a cochlear pattern of hearing loss. The other 3 were examples of Senior's syndrome, Kearne-Sayre syndrome and Lawrence-Moon-Biedle syndrome respectively. Two of these patients had absent stapedius reflexes. It is suggested that patients with different RP-deafness syndromes may have lesions in different parts of the auditory system.
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