Background: Classification of diseases on the molecular level is the basis for personalized medicine. Personalized medicine proposes to improve efficiency and quality of care, to reduce side effects and to increase long-term cost-effectiveness.
Objectives: This paper is concerned with the role of genetic diagnostics in patients with a cochlear implant.
Material and methods: A selective literature search in PubMed was performed.
Results: Genetic diagnosis allows ruling out syndromic hearing loss and thus prevents follow-up studies. It allows genetic counseling, prognosis and advice on family planning and targeted prevention. Due to its minimal invasiveness, it is suitable for evaluation of factors accounting for hearing loss in children.
Conclusions: Molecular medicine plays a major role in the treatment of sensorineural hearings loss with cochlear implants.