[Factors causing deafness in deaf-mute students].

An analysis of 240 deaf-mute students revealed that the main cause of congenital deafness had been heredity (68.5%) which was different from that before 1970s. Of the patients with delayed deafness, 29.8% were hereditary. Altogether, 92 cases (38.3%) had hereditary deafness, among which, 50 cases (46 families) were of autosomal recessive and 42 cases (37 families) autosomal dominant. Thirty-eight cases (41.3%) had their deafness induced by ototoxic antibiotics. A significant familial history of high susceptibility to such antibiotics was available in 26 cases (68.4%). It is suggested that the key of deaf-prevention should be eugenics and the avoidance of ototoxic antibiotic abuse.