Interpreting pendred syndrome as a foetal hydrops: Clinical and animal model evidence

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Menière disease (MD) and SLC26A4 related deafness (Pendred syndrome (PS) or DFNB4) are two different inner ear disorders which present with fluctuating and progressive hearing loss, which could be a direct consequence of endolymphatic hydrops. OBJECTIVE: To present similarities between both pathologies and explore how the concept of hydrops may be applied to PS/DFNB4. METHODS: Review of the literature on MD, PS/DFNB4 and mouse model of PS/DFNB4. RESULTS: MD and PS/DFNB4 share a number of similarities such as fluctuating and progressive hearing loss, acute episodes with vertigo and tinnitus, MRI and histological evidence of endolymphatic hydrops (although with different underlying mechanisms). MD is usually diagnosed during the fourth decade of life whereas PS/DFNB4 is congenital. The PS/DFNB4 mouse models have shown that biallelic slc26a4 mutations lead to Na+ and water retention in the endolymph during the perinatal period, which in turn induces degeneration of the stria vascularis and hearing loss. Crossing clinical/imagery characteristics and animal models, evidence seems to support the hypothesis of PS being a foetal hydrops. CONCLUSIONS: When understanding PS/DFNB4 as a developmental hydrops, treatments used in MD could be repositioned to PS.