Audiometric and vestibular examinations in retinitis pigmentosa.

DEAFNESS is one of the most frequent degenerative processes associated with retinitis pigmentosa (Duke-Elder, 1940; Fowler, 1947), the frequency being variously reported as between 2 and 43 per cent. (Azzolini and Cortesi, 1951). These variations in the incidence in different series may be due to the diversity of methods employed to measure hearing and different criteria in evaluating the degree of impairment. Since the introduction of audiometry as a routine method of measuring hearing loss, the number of reports of affected hearing audiometrically examined in many diseases has greatly increased. In retinitis pigmentosa however, the reported cases which have been examined audiometrically were almost always in small series (Sirles and Slaughter, 1943; Givner and Bruger, 1947; Azzolini and Cortesi, 1951; dell'Acqua, 1952; Bietti, 1952; Alagna and Nizetic, 1953; Lavalle, 1953). During the past 3 years it has been possible to perform audiometric tests on a number of patients and vestibular tests in over half of them. The results of this study are now presented.