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. 2007 Aug;62(2):121-7.
doi: 10.1002/ana.21175.

Phenotypic characterization of hypomyelination and congenital cataract

Roberta Biancheri  1 , Federico Zara, Claudio Bruno, Andrea Rossi, Laura Bordo, Elisabetta Gazzerro, Federica Sotgia, Marina Pedemonte, Sara Scapolan, Massimo Bado, Graziella Uziel, Marianna Bugiani, Laura Doria Lamba, Valeria Costa, Angelo Schenone, Annemieke J M Rozemuller, Paolo Tortori-Donati, Michael P Lisanti, Marjo S van der Knaap, Carlo Minetti
Affiliations

Phenotypic characterization of hypomyelination and congenital cataract

Roberta Biancheri et al. Ann Neurol. 2007 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: To define the clinical and laboratory findings in a novel autosomal recessive white matter disorder called hypomyelination and congenital cataract, recently found to be caused by a deficiency of a membrane protein, hyccin, encoded by the DRCTNNB1A gene located on chromosome 7p21.3-p15.3.

Methods: We performed neurological examination, neurophysiological, neuroimaging, and neuropathological studies on sural nerve biopsy in 10 hypomyelination and congenital cataract patients from 5 unrelated families.

Results: The clinical picture was characterized by bilateral congenital cataract, developmental delay, and slowly progressive neurological impairment with spasticity, cerebellar ataxia, and mild-to-moderate mental retardation. Neurophysiological studies showed a slightly to markedly slowed motor nerve conduction velocity in 9 of 10 patients, and multimodal evoked potentials indicated increased central conduction times. Neuroimaging studies demonstrated a diffuse supratentorial hypomyelination, with in some patients, additional areas of more prominent signal change in the frontal region. Sural nerve biopsy showed a slight-to-severe reduction in myelinated fiber density, with several axons surrounded by a thin myelin sheath or devoid of myelin.

Interpretation: Hypomyelination and congenital cataract is a novel autosomal recessive white matter disorder characterized by the unique association of congenital cataract and hypomyelination of the central and peripheral nervous system.

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Comment in

  • Myelin mishaps.
    Barkovich AJ. Barkovich AJ. Ann Neurol. 2007 Aug;62(2):107-9. doi: 10.1002/ana.21165. Ann Neurol. 2007. PMID: 17683086 No abstract available.

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