First glance at the molecular etiology of hearing loss in French-Canadian families from Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean’s founder population

The French-Canadian population of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean is known for its homogenous genetic background. The hereditary causes of hearing loss were previously unexplored in this population. Individuals with hearing loss were referred from the otorhinolaryngology, pediatrics and family physicians’ clinics to the medical genetics service at the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean between June 2015 and March 2021. A regional clinical evaluation strategy was developed. Samples from 63 individuals belonging to 41 families were sent independently to different molecular clinical laboratories and index cases were analyzed through comprehensive multigene panels, with a diagnostic rate of 54%. Sixteen hearing loss causal variants were identified in 12 genes, with eight of these variants not been previously reported in the literature. Recurrent variants were present in four genes, suggesting a possible founder effect, while GJB2 gene variants were scarce. A comprehensive multigene panel approach as part of the proposed clinical evaluation strategy offers a high diagnostic yield for this population.