The Coffin-Lowry syndrome (CLS) is a rare clinical entity where patien
ts present with a characteristic facies. mental retardation and bone a
bnormalities. So far about 60 cases have been reported. Sensorineural
hearing loss is not a characteristic symptom and a late-onset hearing
loss has not been reported so far. We report on 4 brothers with CLS, a
ged 9-17 years, of whom 3 suffered from a severe sensorineural hearing
loss with an onset during late childhood and adolescence after a norm
al hearing during early childhood. CT scans revealed no cochlear abnor
malities, The boys were successfully equipped with hearing aids. It is
suggested that in all CLS patients the hearing ability should be exam
ined during early infancy and retested regularly in cases with normal
hearing as these cases indicate that in CLS a late-onset hearing loss
is possible during late childhood and adolescence.