1. CRB1-associated retinal dystrophies in a Belgian cohort: genetic characteristics and long-term clinical follow-up
- Author
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Caroline Van Cauwenbergh, David Van Wynsberghe, Julie De Zaeytijd, Mays Talib, Camiel J. F. Boon, Elfride De Baere, Bart P. Leroy, Ophthalmology, and ANS - Complex Trait Genetics
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Pediatrics ,medicine.medical_specialty ,retina ,Retinal Disorder ,Visual acuity ,genetic structures ,030105 genetics & heredity ,03 medical and health sciences ,Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience ,0302 clinical medicine ,Retinitis pigmentosa ,Medicine ,Medical history ,genetics ,CRB1 ,business.industry ,Retrospective cohort study ,Macular dystrophy ,medicine.disease ,Sensory Systems ,eye diseases ,Ophthalmology ,dystrophy ,030221 ophthalmology & optometry ,sense organs ,medicine.symptom ,business ,Retinal Dystrophies - Abstract
AimTo investigate the natural history in a Belgian cohort of CRB1-associated retinal dystrophies.MethodsAn in-depth retrospective study focusing on visual function and retinal structure.ResultsForty patients from 35 families were included (ages: 2.5–80.1 years). In patients with a follow-up of >1 year (63%), the mean follow-up time was 12.0 years (range: 2.3–29.2 years). Based on the patient history, symptoms and/or electroretinography, 22 patients (55%) were diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), 15 (38%) with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) and 3 (8%) with macular dystrophy (MD), the latter being associated with the p.(Ile167_Gly169del) mutation (in compound heterozygosity). MD later developed into a rod-cone dystrophy in one patient. Blindness at initial presentation was seen in the first decade of life in LCA, and in the fifth decade of life in RP. Eventually, 28 patients (70%) reached visual acuity-based blindness (ConclusionBi-allelic CRB1 mutations result in a range of progressive retinal disorders, most of which are generalised, with characteristically early macular involvement. Visual function and retinal structure analysis indicates a window for potential intervention with gene therapy before the fourth decade of life in RP and the first decade in LCA.
- Published
- 2021