There are cases of complete absence of smell, hearing or vision at birth, but none of total bilateral absence of vestibular function. What about taste? It seems so rare it is doubtful if it genuinely exists.
In my 65 years long practise in Otolaryngology did not see a case of congenital ageusia.
Thanks Eleftherios. Perhaps you could confirm that you have also never seen or heard of a case of total congenital absence of the vestibular system? I had thought there are cases of congenital total anosmia, but I am now wondering if this is really so.
Yes I have never seen a case with absence of vestibular system. Just the same about the congenital ageusia.
In my 35 yes of practise in ENT I have not seen a single case of congenital ageusia
Thanks very much to the two above experienced ENT practitioners for independently confirming the (total?) absence of congenital ageusia. It seems highly unlikely that initially there are no such embryological malformations, so I can only conclude that such fetuses become unviable in early pregnancy, a hitherto unsuspected cause of miscarriage. Likewise, there are even more plausible reasons to suppose that fetuses without labyrinthine reflexes will die. Incidentally, you can be born with little or no brain.
I am not sure what you are asking. My preliminary search of the literature has revealed no cases of congenital ageusia, so nothing to report. However, I would like independent confirmation of this before taking the matter further.