Hypomyelination and Congenital Cataract: Clinical, Imaging, and Genetic Findings in Three Tunisian Families and Literature Review

Abstract

Hypomyelination and congenital cataract (HCC) is characterized by congenital cataract, progressive neurologic impairment, and diffuse myelin deficiency. This autosomal recessive disorder is caused by homozygous variant in the FAM126A gene. Five consanguineous Tunisian patients, belonging to three unrelated families, underwent routine blood tests, electroneuromyography, and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. The direct sequencing of FAM126A exons was performed for the patients and their relatives. We summarized the 30 previously published HCC cases. All of our patients were carriers of a previously reported c.414 + 1G > T (IVS5 + 1G > T) variant, but the clinical spectrum was variable. Despite the absence of a phenotype–genotype correlation in HCC disease, screening of this splice site variant should be performed in family members at risk.

Keywords

hypomyelination - cataract - HCC - FAM126A gene - MRI

^* These authors contributed equally to this work.

Publication History

Received: 28 September 2020

Accepted: 14 February 2021

Article published online:
30 June 2021

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