[Rubella deafness. Audiometric, ophthalmologic, epidemiological aspects].

: Case-reports of 75 children, with deafness due to an embropathy from maternal rubella during the first months of pregnancy, are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on the frequency of interauricular functional asymmetry, of pigmented retinitis alone or associated with a cataract, and of dysmaturity at birth and persistence of overall delayed development. Also stressed are the large proportion of women born outside the French Metropolitan area who contracted rubella during pregnancy, and the very high frequency of errors in interpreting clinical and biological signs in suspected rubella, leading to an impressive number of wrong suggestions with marked effects on the future. Following a detailed description of 15 of the 75 cases studied, the results obtained are analyzed. Nearly half of the cases presented an interauricular auditory functional asymmetry, which is therefore one of the elements of etiological diagnosis and which enables better adaptation of a hearing aid for rubella-induced deafness. The very high frequency of pigmented retinitis alone also constitutes and element of etiological diagnosis, and enabled at least 7 p. cent of overall cases of perception deafness to be assessed as resulting from a rubella cause. The pigmented retinitis is sometimes central and, contrary to classical notions, provokes visual dysfunction. Difficulty in applying a correct diagnosis during the initial episode, and the usual lack of information given to the family in case of rubella during pregnancy, are common features in the vast majority of cases.