Genetic evaluation of American minority pediatric cochlear implant recipients.
OBJECTIVE
To review the results of genetic evaluation of American minority pediatric cochlear implant recipients over a 5-year period.


METHODS
Case series review of pediatric cochlear implant recipients of Caribbean Hispanic and African American admixture descent with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss at a tertiary care children's hospital.


RESULTS
Out of 28 patients receiving cochlear implants, 14 were of Caribbean Hispanic or African American admixture ancestry. Six (43%) had environmental risk factors for sensorineural hearing loss. Eight (57%) patients had presumed genetic sensorineural hearing loss; two of whom were syndromic and six non-syndromic. Patients with no clear etiology for hearing loss were tested for Gap Junction Beta 2 (GJB2) mutations. Within this admixture group, we found no biallelic mutations in GJB2, while two patients, both with environmental risk factors for sensorineural hearing loss, had monoallelic GJB2 variants. One patient of mixed ethnicity (Caribbean Hispanic, Turkish, Macedonian), not included as part of the 14, had the common Caucasian founder mutation, 35delG, along with a heterozygous polymorphism in the GJB2 gene. This extends previous data showing a paucity of GJB2 mutations in these admixture populations.


CONCLUSIONS
We found no biallelic GJB2 mutations in our admixture cochlear implant population, and two sequence variants of the gene, only one of which was disease causing. This suggests that the incidence of GJB2 mutations in these admixture populations is low. Hence, there may be low cost-benefit of GJB2 mutation analysis in these admixture populations with severe to profound non-syndromic sensorineural hearing loss.
Fischer
Tova C
TC
Division of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, NY 10467, USA.
Samanich
Joy
J
Morrow
Bernice E
BE
Chobot-Rodd
Janie
J
Shanske
Alan
A
Parikh
Sanjay R
SR
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000235:genetics*; D017691:Caribbean Region / Q000208:ethnology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D000072259:Connexin 26; D000075302:Connexin 30; D017630:Connexins / Q000235:genetics; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000601:surgery; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
D000075302:Connexin 30; D017630:Connexins; C000607042:GJB2 protein, human; C491020:GJB6 protein, human; D000072259:Connexin 26