The ear and eye are both special sensory organs that are derived from the neural ectoderm and develop closely together during the fourth week of embryogenesis. The structure of these organs is related to their functions and therefore each of the components must be able to effectively operate in order to function efficiently. The role of genetic and environmental factors that affect the development of both the ear and eye have been identified and studied, which allows researchers to better understand the association of the ear and eye. Currently, there are syndromes (such as Goldenhar and CHARGE) that are known to affect both systems concurrently. However, there is a possibility that there are more undiscovered syndromes that also affect the ear and eye simultaneously, where there are still unexplored associations between various eye and ear disorders. Identifying and understanding these syndromes allows clinicians to better diagnose and treat patients who originally present with one or the other disorder and have not been further tested. The ear and eye have also been associated with the central nervous system, where disorders in the systems might indicate neurodevelopment or neurological issues because of abnormalities in the development of their common origin.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/43863 |
| Date | 10 February 2022 |
| Creators | Mustafa, Asel |
| Contributors | Levi, Jessica, Offner, Gwynneth D. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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