© Kamla-Raj 2006 Int J Hum Genet, 6(4): 357-358 (2006) Role of Consanguinity in Congenital Neurosensory Deafness

ABSTRACT Congenital deafness affects the speech and psychosocial development of the affected child. It could be syndromic or non-syndromic depending on the presence or absence of the associated manifestations. Among various etiological factors described for deafness, consanguinity is an established high risk etiological factor. A prospective study was carried out in 1076 children in the age group of 0-14years attending Government ENT hospital and schools for deaf in and around Hyderabad. The results showed that 41.73 % (449) of the cases were the products of consanguineous matings and 58.27 % (627) were born to non consanguineous parents. Further analysis revealed a high rate of consanguinity (44.53%) in children with non syndromic deafness