corneal pannus

Anterior Segment Dysgenesis 6

Clinical Characteristics
Ocular Features: 

This is a congenital anterior segment dysplasia syndrome.  Iris hypoplasia with transillumination, corectopia, iridodenesis, and iridocorneal adhesions can be seen.  Increased intraocular pressure is a risk and ectopia lentis is often present.  Peters anomaly and defects in all layers of the cornea may be present.

No foveal hypoplasia is present.

Systemic Features: 

No systemic abnormalities have been reported.

Genetics

A single male patient of native American/French Canadian background has been reported with compound heterozygous mutations in the CYP1B1 gene (2p22.2).

See Anterior Chamber Dysgenesis 8 for another autosomal recessive disorder with somewhat similar clinical features.  Three families with 4 affected individuals have been reported with homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in the CPAMD8 gene (19p13.11).

The genes FOXE3 and PAX6 are characterized as transcription factors and play important roles in ocular development.  However, while mutations in these are frequently found in patients with dysgenesis of the anterior chamber they often cause more widespread ocular and systemic anomalies (e.g., Gillespie syndrome [206700]).  Therefore in this database the anterior chamber constellations of anomalies associated with mutations in these genes are not considered to be simplex conditions.

See also related disorders iridogoniodysgenesis type 1 (601631) and type 2 (137600), and anterior segment mesenchymal dysgenesis (107250).

Pedigree: 
Autosomal recessive
Treatment
Treatment Options: 

Lifelong pressure monitoring is important.

References
Article Title: 

Phenotypic heterogeneity of CYP1B1: mutations in a patient with Peters' anomaly

Vincent A, Billingsley G, Priston M, Williams-Lyn D, Sutherland J, Glaser T, Oliver E, Walter MA, Heathcote G, Levin A, Heon E. Phenotypic heterogeneity of CYP1B1: mutations in a patient with Peters' anomaly. J Med Genet. 2001 May;38(5):324-6. PubMed PMID: 11403040; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1734880.

PubMed ID: 
11403040

Hereditary Mucoepithelial Dysplasia

Clinical Characteristics
Ocular Features: 

Impaired epithelial cohesion is the fundamental defect in this disorder.  Photophobia may be present in infants and this is soon evident as secondary to keratitis with eventual formation of a pannus and corneal neovascularization.  Vision is impaired early and as the disease progresses, many patients by early adulthood are severely impaired.  Cataracts are present in the majority of individuals, often present as early as the second decade of life.  Eyelashes and eyebrows may be sparse.  Nystagmus has been reported in some patients.

Systemic Features: 

This is a panepithelial disease of impaired cohesion due, at least in part, to a reduced number of desmosomes and defective gap junctions.  Oral, nasal, vaginal, cervical, perineal, urethral, and bladder mucosa, in addition to external ocular surfaces, are involved.  With exception of the ocular involvement, the lesions are usually not painful, but may be during acute flare-ups.  Demarcated erythematous patches are often seen in the oral mucosa.  Non-scarring alopecia, keratosis pilaris, and perineal intertrigo are usually present.  Histological examination of oral mucosa and skin shows dyskeratotic features, decreased number of desmosomes, and intracytoplasmic vacuoles.

Genetics

Pedigrees suggest autosomal dominant inheritance but few families have been reported.  The location of the responsible mutation, if any, has not been found. 

Somewhat similar genodermatoses are KID syndrome (148210), an autosomal dominant disorder with neurosensory hearing loss and sometimes mental and physical delays secondary to mutations in GJB2, and IFAP (308205), an X-linked condition with mental and physical delays and severe organ deformities.  Cataracts are not features of KID or IFAP syndromes.

Pedigree: 
Autosomal dominant
Treatment
Treatment Options: 

No effective treatment has been found.

References
Article Title: 

Foveal Hypoplasia 1

Clinical Characteristics
Ocular Features: 

This is a poorly defined syndrome with features overlapping aniridia, hereditary keratitis, ocular albinism, and iris anomalies as in Peters anomaly.  However, presenile cataracts seem to be unique to this disorder.  The foveal hypoplasia may occur without other anomalies although the fundus is usually lightly pigmented.  As expected, acuity is subnormal from birth, in the range of 20/50, and dyschromatopsia may be present.  Some patients have nystagmus.  Weak iris transillumination has been reported and a small limbal pannus may be present. Lens opacities may become visually significant in the third to fourth decade of life.  OCT has shown abnormal foveal thickness with multiple inner retinal layers somewhat similar to the situation in oculocutaneous albinism (203100) and it has been suggested that 'foveal dysplasia' is a better description than 'foveal hypoplasia'. 

Systemic Features: 

No systemic disease is present. 

Genetics

This disorder is associated with mutations in the PAX6 gene (11p13) and inherited as an autosomal dominant.

The protein product of the PAX6 gene is a transcription factor that attaches to DNA and regulates the expression of other genes.  PAX6 plays a major role primarily in development of the eye and central nervous system but evidence suggests it is also active postnatally.  Hundreds of mutations have been found in disorders such as hereditary keratitis, aniridia, Peters anomaly, hypoplasia and colobomas of the optic nerve.  This database contains 8 conditions in which mutations in PAX6 seem to be responsible, including syndromal conditions such as Stromme and Gillespie syndromes in which there may be cognitive disabilities. 

True isolated foveal hypoplasia without lens or corneal disease does exist as well but this condition (FVH2) is not well defined.  Homozygous mutations in SLC38A8 have been found to cosegregate with this form of foveal hypoplasia among families of Jewish Indian ancestry.  Hypopigmentation is not a feature of isolated foveal hypoplasia secondary to such mutations but misrouting of optic nerve axons may be present.  Nystagmus and reduced vision but no anterior segment abnormalities were present.

With the widespread utilization of OCT measurements, we have learned that underdevelopment of the fovea can be a feature of numerous ocular disorders (more than 20 in this database).  In most conditions, the foveal dysplasia is part of a disease complex as in foveal hypoplasia with anterior segment dysgenesis (609218).

 

Pedigree: 
Autosomal dominant
Treatment
Treatment Options: 

Cataract surgery is indicated when lens opacities become visually significant. 

References
Article Title: 

Recessive Mutations in SLC38A8 Cause Foveal Hypoplasia and Optic Nerve Misrouting without Albinism

Poulter JA, Al-Araimi M, Conte I, van Genderen MM, Sheridan E, Carr IM, Parry DA, Shires M, Carrella S, Bradbury J, Khan K, Lakeman P, Sergouniotis PI, Webster AR, Moore AT, Pal B, Mohamed MD, Venkataramana A, Ramprasad V, Shetty R, Saktivel M, Kumaramanickavel G, Tan A, Mackey DA, Hewitt AW, Banfi S, Ali M, Inglehearn CF, Toomes C. Recessive Mutations in SLC38A8 Cause Foveal Hypoplasia and Optic Nerve Misrouting without Albinism. Am J Hum Genet. 2013 Dec 5;93(6):1143-50.

PubMed ID: 
24290379

Aniridia 1

Clinical Characteristics
Ocular Features: 

Aniridia is the name of both a disorder and a group of disorders.  This because aniridia is both an isolated ocular disease and a feature of several malformation syndromes.  Absence of the iris was first reported in the early 19th century.  The hallmark of the disease is bilateral iris hypoplasia which may consist of minimal loss of iris tissue with simple radial clefts, colobomas, pseudopolycoria, and correctopia, to nearly complete absence.  Goniosocopy may be required to visualize tags of iris root when no iris is visible externally.  Glaucoma is frequently present (~67%) and often difficult to treat.  It is responsible for blindness in a significant number of patients.  About 15% of patients are diagnosed with glaucoma in each decade of life but this rises to 35% among individuals 40-49 years of age.  Hypoplasia and dysplasia of the fovea are likely responsible for the poor vision in many individuals.  Nystagmus is frequently present.  The ciliary body may also be hypoplastic. 

Visual acuity varies widely.  In many families it is less than 20/60 in all members and the majority have less than 20/200.  Photophobia can be incapacitating.  Posterior segment OCT changes suggest that outer retinal damage suggestive of a phototoxic retinopathy may also be a factor in the reduced acuity.  Cataracts (congenital in >75%), ectopia lentis (bilateral in >26%), optic nerve hypoplasia, variable degrees of corneal clouding with or without a vascularized pannus, and dysgenesis of the anterior chamber angle are frequently present. 

Increased corneal thickness (>600 microns) has been found in some series and should be considered when IOP measurements are made.  In early stages of the disease, focal opacities are present in the basal epithelium, associated with sub-basal nerves.  Dendritic cells can infiltrate the central epithelium and normal limbal palisade architecture is absent. 

Meibomian gland anomalies also contribute to the corneal disease.  The glands may be decreased in number and smaller in size contributing to deficiencies of the tear film and unstable surface wetting.

Systemic Features: 

In addition to 'pure' aniridia in which no systemic features are found, at least six disorders have been reported in which systemic anomalies do occur.  Three of these have associated renal anomalies, including Wilms tumor with other genitourinary anomalies and mental retardation, sometimes called WAGR (194072) syndrome, another (612469) with similar features plus obesity sometime called WAGRO (612469) syndrome reported in isolated patients, and yet another with partial aniridia (206750) and unilateral renal agenesis and psychomotor retardation reported in a single family.  Aniridia with dysplastic or absent patella (106220) has been reported in a single three generation family.  Cerebellar ataxia and mental retardation with motor deficits (Gillespie syndrome; 206700) have been found in other families with anirdia.  Another 3 generation family has been reported in which aniridia, microcornea and spontaneously resorbed cataracts occured (106230).

About one-third of patients with aniridia also have Wilms tumor and many have some cognitive deficits.

Genetics

The majority of cases have a mutation in the paired box gene (PAX6) complex, or at least include this locus when chromosomal aberrations such as deletions are present in the region (11p13).  This complex (containing at least 9 genes) is multifunctional and important to the tissue regulation of numerous developmental genes.   PAX6 mutations, encoding a highly conserved transcription regulator, generally cause hypoplasia of the iris and foveal hypoplasia but are also important in CNS development.  It has been suggested that PAX6 gene dysfunction may be the only gene defect associated with aniridia.  More than 300 specific mutations, most causing premature truncation of the polypeptide, have been identified.  

AN1 results from mutations in the PAX6 gene.  Two additional forms of aniridia have been reported in which functional alterations in genes that modulate the expression of PAX6 are responsible: AN2 (617141) with mutations in ELP4 and AN3 (617142) with mutations in TRIM44.  Both ELP4 and TRIM44 are regulators of the PAX6 transcription gene.

Associated abnormalities may be due to a second mutation in the WT1 gene in WAGR (194072) syndrome, a deletion syndrome involving both WT1 and PAX6 genes at 11p13.  The WAGRO syndrome (612469) is caused by a contiguous deletion in chromosome 11 (11p12-p13) involving three genes: WT1, PAX6, and BDNF.  All types are likely inherited as autosomal dominant disorders although nearly one-third of cases occur sporadically.

Mutations in PAX6 associated with aniridia can cause other anterior chamber malformations such as Peters anomaly (604229).

Gillespie syndrome (206700 ) is an allelic disorder with neurological abnormalities including cerebellar ataxia and mental retardation.

Pedigree: 
Autosomal dominant
Treatment
Treatment Options: 

Treatment is directed at the associated threats to vision such as glaucoma, corneal opacities, and cataracts.  Glaucoma is the most serious threat and is the most difficult to treat. The best results have been reported with glaucoma drainage devices.  All patients should have eye examinations at appropriate intervals throughout life, focused on glaucoma screening.  It is well to keep in mind that foveal maldevelopment often precludes significant improvement in acuity and heroic measures must be carefully evaluated.  Specifically, corneal transplants and glaucoma control measures frequently fail.

Low vision aids are often helpful.  Tinted lenses can minimize photophobia.  Occupational and vocational training should be considered for older individuals.  Surface wetting of the cornea should be periodically evaluated and appropriate topical lubrication used as needed. 

Young children with aniridia should have periodic examinations with renal imaging as recommended by a urologist.

In mice, postnatal topical ocular application of ataluren-based eyedrop formulations can reverse malformations caused by PAX6 mutations.

References
Article Title: 

Familial aniridia with preserved

Elsas FJ, Maumenee IH, Kenyon KR, Yoder F. Familial aniridia with preserved ocular function. Am J Ophthalmol. 1977 May;83(5):718-24.

PubMed ID: 
868970
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