Mayo Clinic's Hearing and Vision Loss Clinic houses a team of board-certified genetic counselors and a medical geneticist who are highly experienced in treating people with vision and hearing loss. Our experts evaluate patients of all ages and provide patient-centered, individually tailored care. Depending on your needs, clinic specialists collaborate with specialists in other departments, such as ophthalmology and ENT, to ensure you receive the exact care you need.
Members of our team also have expertise in gene therapy and in evaluating patients for clinical trials related to inherited retinal disease.
During your appointment in the Department of Clinical Genomics, you will sit down with genetics specialists who may:
- Review your medical history.
- Perform a detailed physical examination, if needed.
- Discuss genetic testing options.
- Discuss how genetic testing results may affect you and your family.
You also may meet specifically with genetic counselors to discuss testing in detail and to learn the benefits and nuances of genetic testing.
While most people will receive a diagnosis from this process, negative or inconclusive test results are possible. If this happens, you may be invited to participate in ongoing reevaluation through the Center for Individualized Medicine as the field advances with the goal of making a diagnosis.
Advantages of Hearing and Vision Loss Clinic
- Multidisciplinary collaboration with the Department of Ophthalmology.
- Multidisciplinary collaboration with the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (ENT).
- Team-based, patient-centered approach involving genetic counselors, medical geneticists, ENT and ophthalmology.
- Expertise in ocular and audiology genetics.
- Includes people who are deaf or blind with conditions such as Usher syndrome, Alstrom syndrome and other rare conditions.
- Opportunities for clinical trials and advanced trials.
- Assessment for risk of inherited conditions.
- Family and personal medical history evaluation.
- Comprehensive genetic testing discussion and facilitation based on your specific needs.
- Personalized results review of genetic testing.
- Research-based collaboration for people with ultrarare conditions.
- Advanced testing for patients with inconclusive results.
- Ongoing reevaluation.
- Ongoing evaluation with genetics professionals as the field progresses.
- Comprehensive genetic counseling services to ensure understanding of complex genetic information and discussion of implication of how genetic testing and results may affect you and your family.
- Empowering you with your genetic information.