deafness

Leber Congenital Amaurosis with Early-Onset Deafness

Clinical Characteristics
Ocular Features: 

Evidence for retinal disease can be seen within 3 years of age.  Three of 5 patients had no detectable responses on the ERG when tested at birth.  A 34-year-old female was noted to have advanced retinitis pigmentosa with attenuation of retinal vessels, choroidal atrophy, peripheral pigmentary deposits, and macular anomalies.  The posterior fundus may have a salt-and-pepper pigmentation.  Hypermetropia was present in all 5 patients.

Visual acuity varies widely and may be normal even among older patients.

Systemic Features: 

Mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss secondary to cochlear cell loss is usually diagnosed in the first decade.  All patients had normal neuro-psychomotor development.

Genetics

Heterozygous mutations in the TUBB4B gene (9q34.3) have been found in 5 individuals in 4 families with this disorder.  There may be significant mosaicism in blood cells.

See Leber Congenital Amaurosis for additional information on non-syndromal Leber congenital amaurosis and responsible mutations.

Pedigree: 
Autosomal dominant
Treatment
Treatment Options: 

No treatment is available for the general condition but refractive correction, low vision aids, and assistive hearing devices may be of benefit.

References
Article Title: 

Mutations in TUBB4B Cause a Distinctive Sensorineural Disease

Luscan R, Mechaussier S, Paul A, Tian G, Gerard X, Defoort-Dellhemmes S, Loundon N, Audo I, Bonnin S, LeGargasson JF, Dumont J, Goudin N, Garfa-Traore M, Bras M, Pouliet A, Bessieres B, Boddaert N, Sahel JA, Lyonnet S, Kaplan J, Cowan NJ, Rozet JM, Marlin S, Perrault I. Mutations in TUBB4B Cause a Distinctive Sensorineural Disease. Am J Hum Genet. 2017 Dec 7;101(6):1006-1012.

PubMed ID: 
29198720

MELAS Syndrome

Clinical Characteristics
Ocular Features: 

This progressive mitochondrial disorder primarily affects muscles and the CNS, including the visual system.  The pattern of ocular deficits is not consistent and those that are present are not specific, requiring the clinician to take the entire neurological picture into consideration.  Hemianopsia, cortical blindness and ophthalmoplegia may be present.  The ERG can show reduced b-wave amplitudes and VEPs may be absent.  The optic nerve head has been described as normal without the atrophy often seen with other mitochondrial disorders.  A pigmentary retinopathy may be present.

Systemic Features: 

The clinical picture is highly variable.  Most commonly patients have myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes.  The onset of symptoms is usually in the first two decades of life, most commonly consisting of headaches of sudden onset accompanied by vomiting and seizures.  The headaches may simulate migraines.  Weakness, lethargy, and apathy may be present early.  However, infants and young children may present with failure to thrive, developmental delay, and learning disabilities.  Neurosensory deafness is often seen and peripheral neuropathy is usually evident.  MRIs may show cerebellar hypoplasia and infarctions in the cerebral hemispheres.  Some patients have calcifications in the basal ganglia.  Patients may develop lactic acidosis.  Muscle biopsies often show ragged, red fibers.  The heart is commonly involved with both structural and rhythm defects.  Depending upon the degree and location of brain damage, patients may have hemiparesis, lethargy, ataxia, myoclonic jerks, cognitive decline, and dementia.  Morbidity and mortality are high.

Genetics

MELAS syndrome is a group of disorders caused by mutations in mitochondrial genes (at least 9 have been identified) that alter transfer RNA molecules resulting in disruption of intramitochondrial synthesis of proteins involved in oxidative phosphorylation pathways.  It is both clinically and genetically heterogeneous.  One can expect that any familial occurrence would result from maternal transmission but the occurrence of heteroplasmy results in considerable variability in the severity of clinical disease.

Treatment
Treatment Options: 

There is no effective treatment that prevents development of disease or that slows its progress.

References
Article Title: 

Wolfram Syndrome 1

Clinical Characteristics
Ocular Features: 

Optic atrophy in association with diabetes mellitus is considered necessary to the diagnosis of Wolfram syndrome.  The optic atrophy is progressive over a period of years and can be the presenting symptom.  Its onset, however, is highly variable and may begin in infancy but almost always before the third decade of life.  The majority (77%) of patients are legally blind within a decade of onset.  The visual field may show paracentral scotomas and peripheral constriction.  Both VEPs and ERGs can be abnormal.  Diabetic retinopathy is uncommon and usually mild.

Two sibs with confirmed WFS1 have been reported with microspherophakia, congenital cataracts, and glaucoma in addition to optic atrophy .

Systemic Features: 

The clinical features of this disorder are many and highly variable.  Sensorineural hearing loss, diabetes insipidus, anemia, seizures, vasopressin deficiency, ataxia, and autonomic neuropathy are usually present. Respiratory failure secondary to brain stem atrophy may have fatal consequences by the age of 30 years.  A variety of mental disturbances including mental retardation, dementia, depression, and behavioral disorders have been reported.  The diabetes mellitus is insulin dependent with childhood onset.  Dilated ureters and neurogenic bladder are frequently seen, especially in older patients..

Genetics

Wolfram syndrome 1 is an autosomal recessive disorder that can be caused by mutations in the WFS1 gene (4p16.1) encoding wolframin, a small protein important to maintenance of the endoplasmic reticulum.  However, a minority of individuals also have deletion mutations in mitochondrial DNA (598500).  Some evidence suggests that point mutations at 4p16.1 predispose deletions in mtDNA, and, if so, this recessive disorder may owe its appearance to combined mutations in both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA.  In addition, rare families with the Wolfram syndrome phenotype and mutations in the WFS1 gene show transmission patterns consistent with autosomal dominant inheritance.

Wolfram syndrome 2 (WFS2) (604928) results from mutations in CISD2 at 4q22-q24.

Pedigree: 
Autosomal recessive
Treatment
Treatment Options: 

No treatment is available for Wolfram syndrome but the administration of thiamin can correct the anemia.  Low vision aids may be helpful in early stages of disease.

References
Article Title: 

Usher Syndrome Type III

Clinical Characteristics
Ocular Features: 

Retinitis pigmentosa is a cardinal feature with onset of severe symptoms of nightblindness and tunnel vision by the second decade of life.  The ERG shows depressed responses.  Central vision may also be lost in young adults.  Hypermetropic astigmatism has been reported as the most typical refractive error for type III in the presence of nightblindness and hearing loss, at least in Finnish patients.

Systemic Features: 

Hearing loss is progressive but later in onset than in type I and type II.  Infants are usually born with normal hearing and often experience some loss of hearing by the end of the first decade of life.  Speech can develop normally because of the late onset of the hearing deficit.  Hearing loss is progressive early with older patients having a profound and eventually more stable hearing deficit.  The amount of vestibular dysfunction is variable but usually is severe enough to cause significant unsteadiness.  The mental changes associated with type I are absent.

Genetics

Usher syndrome is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous condition.   Type IIIA is caused by a mutation in the CLRN1 gene (3q21-q25).  It is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern.  Type IIIB (614505) is the result of homozygous mutations in HARS (5q31.3).

There is also a disorder resembling Usher that results from homozygous mutations in ABHD12 (20p11.21) that also causes PHARC (612674) (polyneuropathy, hearing loss, ataxia, retinitis pigmentosa, and early onset cataract).

This is the least common type of Usher syndrome.  Three additional types of Usher syndrome are recognized:  type I (276900) results from mutations in at least 7 different genes, type II (276901) from mutations in 4 genes, and Type IV resulting from mutations in the ARSG gene.

Pedigree: 
Autosomal recessive
Treatment
Treatment Options: 

Hearing aids might be helpful early but cochlear implants may be needed in older patients with severe deafness.  Low vision aids are often helpful.

References
Article Title: 

Targeted next-generation sequencing identifies a homozygous nonsense mutation in ABHD12, the gene underlying PHARC, in a family clinically diagnosed with Usher syndrome type 3

Eisenberger T, Slim R, Mansour A, Nauck M, N?ornberg G, N?ornberg P, Decker C, Dafinger C, Ebermann I, Bergmann C, Bolz HJ. Targeted next-generation sequencing identifies a homozygous nonsense mutation in ABHD12, the gene underlying PHARC, in a family clinically diagnosed with Usher syndrome type 3. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2012 Sep 2;7(1):59. [Epub ahead of print]

PubMed ID: 
22938382

Usher Syndrome Type II

Clinical Characteristics
Ocular Features: 

Retinitis pigmentosa is clinically similar to that of nonsyndromal RP and produces symptoms of nightblindness by adolescence.  The ERG is severely reduced and visual fields are constricted.  Rods seem to be more severely affected than cones.  A loss of thickness in the outer nuclear layer in USH2C and USH2A types has been described.  The fundus often contains patches of hyperfluorescence which become larger and often coalesce in older patients.  The retinal disease is progressive but more slowly than in type I.  Eventually by the 4th to 5th decades the visual field is constricted to 5-10 degrees.  It can result in blindness.  Cataracts are common and some patients have cystic changes in the macula.

Systemic Features: 

The hearing deficit in type II can be described as hearing loss rather than deafness as found in type I.  Usually high frequencies are impacted more severely than lower frequencies producing a characteristic 'sloping' audiogram.  The hearing loss is present at birth and progressive, at least in some individuals.  Speech usually develops.  Vestibular dysfunction is not a feature of type II Usher syndrome.  The mental changes observed in type I do not occur in type II.

Genetics

Like other forms of Usher syndrome, type II is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern.  Like type I, it is genetically heterogeneous and mutations in at least 4 genes seem to be responsible.  Three have been identified: type IIA (USH2A; 276901) results from mutations in the USH2A gene on chromosome 4 (1q41), type IIC (USH2D; 605472) from mutations in GPR98 (5q14), and type IID (USH2D; 611383) is caused by mutations in the DFNB31 gene (9q32-q34).  Type IIB (USH2B) results from mutations in a locus mapped to 3p24.2-p23 but the gene has not been identified.  Clinical features are sufficiently similar so that these are discussed here as a single entity.

This is the most common of the three types of Usher syndrome.  Type I Usher syndrome (276900) results from mutations in at least 7 genes and type III (276902) is caused by a mutations in the CLRN1 gene.

Pedigree: 
Autosomal recessive
Treatment
Treatment Options: 

Hearing aids can be helpful and speech therapy may be highly beneficial for the development of speech.  Cochlear implants have been suggested for older persons who have the more severe hearing loss.  Auditory testing should be done shortly after birth and the hearing loss monitored periodically.

An investigational drug (QRX-411) developed by ProQR has been approved as an orphan drug by the FDA and the EMA for patients with the USH2A mutation. 

References
Article Title: 

Kinetics of visual field loss in Usher syndrome Type II

Iannaccone A, Kritchevsky SB, Ciccarelli ML, Tedesco SA, Macaluso C, Kimberling WJ, Somes GW. Kinetics of visual field loss in Usher syndrome Type II. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2004 Mar;45(3):784-92.

PubMed ID: 
14985291

Sorsby Macular Coloboma Syndrome

Clinical Characteristics
Ocular Features: 

Macular colobomas, usually bilateral, are the major ocular feature of this oculoskeletal disorder.  These are non-progressive and are generally heavily pigmented.  Vision is, of course, severely reduced (20/200) and horizontal or pendular nystagmus is a feature in some cases.

Systemic Features: 

The systemic features are primarily skeletal.  Patients have short-limbed dwarfism and brachydactyly of the type B variety.  The thumbs and sometimes the large toes may be broad and bifid.  The distal two phalanges sometimes short, absent, or duplicated and the nails can be dysplastic or absent. Syndactyly of several digits in both hands and feet is common.  The ears are large and protuberant and some patients have deafness.  Oligodontia may be present.  Cartilage can have diastrophic changes.  Mental development is normal.

Genetics

In the few families reported, the transmission pattern is vertical suggesting autosomal dominant inheritance but no mutation or locus has been reported.  The mutation causing brachydactyly type B1 was not present in several cases.

Pedigree: 
Autosomal dominant
Treatment
Treatment Options: 

Surgical treatment of digital anomalies can be beneficial.  Low vision aids could be helpful as well.

References
Article Title: 

Stickler Syndrome, Type II

Clinical Characteristics
Ocular Features: 

Virtually all (85%) patients have a nonprogresssive axial myopia.  The vitreous degeneration has a beaded pattern without the veils of type I, claimed by some to be important in the distinction of the two types.  Paravascular lattice retinopathy is seen in 38% of patients and 64% have cataracts, sometimes with wedge opacities similar to those in type I Stickler syndrome.  Nearly half (42%) of patients are reported to have retinal detachments.

Systemic Features: 

Hearing loss occurs early and many individuals (80%) eventually require hearing aids.    Midline clefting is present frequently with bifid uvula, a highly arched palate, or an actual cleft palate.  Joint laxity is common.

Genetics

There are reasons to classify type II Stickler syndrome as a unique disorder apart from type I (108300).  In addition to phenotypic evidence (vitreoretinal disease, amount of hearing loss, and degree of epiphyseal disease), mutation in two different genes are involved.  Type II results from a mutation in the COL11A1 (1p21) and type I (108300) in COL2A1.  Both types are inherited in autosomal dominant patterns.

Type IV (614234) with vitreoretinal changes, myopia, and a high risk of retinal detachment is inherited in an autsomal recessive pattern.

Pedigree: 
Autosomal dominant
Treatment
Treatment Options: 

Patients with type II Stickler disease need lifelong ophthalmologic monitoring because of the risk of retinal detachments and cataracts with treatment as indicated.
 

References
Article Title: 

Clinical features of type 2 Stickler syndrome

Poulson AV, Hooymans JM, Richards AJ, Bearcroft P, Murthy R, Baguley DM, Scott JD, Snead MP. Clinical features of type 2 Stickler syndrome. J Med Genet. 2004 Aug;41(8):e107.

PubMed ID: 
15286167
Subscribe to RSS - deafness