THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HEREDITY IN OPHTHALMOLOGY. PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF HEREDITARY EYE DISEASES IN TASMANIA

Establishing risk of vision loss in Leber hereditary optic neuropathy

We conducted an updated epidemiological study of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) in Australia by using registry data to establish the risk of vision loss among different LHON mutations, sex, age at onset, and mitochondrial haplogroup. We identified 96 genetically unrelated LHON pedigrees, including 56 unpublished pedigrees, and updated 40 previously known pedigrees, comprising 620 affected individuals and 4,948 asymptomatic carriers. The minimum prevalence of vision loss due to LHON in Australia in 2020 was one in 68,403 individuals. Although our data confirm some well-established features of LHON, the overall risk of vision loss among those with a LHON mutation was lower than reported previously-17.5% for males and 5.4% for females. Our findings confirm that women, older adults, and younger children are also at risk. Furthermore, we observed a higher incidence of vision loss in children of affected mothers as well as in children of unaffected women with at least one affected brother. Finally, we confirmed our previous report showing a generational fall in prevalence of vision loss among Australian men. Higher reported rates of vision loss in males with a LHON mutation are not supported by our work and other epidemiologic studies. Accurate knowledge of risk is essential for genetic counseling of individuals with LHON mutations. This knowledge could also inform the detection and validation of potential biomarkers and has implications for clinical trials of treatments aimed at preventing vision loss in LHON because an overestimated risk may lead to an underpowered study or a false claim of efficacy.

Three subgroups of patients from the United Kingdom with Leber hereditary optic neuropathy

Variations in classic Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) include recovery of vision and association with other neurological abnormalities. Sixteen multi-generational Australian families originating from the United Kingdom with LHON were studied by the one examiner, using the same protocol. In particular, recovery of vision and other neurological abnormalities were noted. One very large family (Tas2) and one small family (Vic2) were found to have frequent recovery of vision (50% of patients). They both had the 14484 T to C mutation in their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). One apparently unique family (Qld1) was found to have frequent juvenile encephalopathy and peripheral neurological signs. They had the 4160 T to C and 14484 T to C mutations. The remaining 13 families rarely showed visual recovery or associated neurological abnormalities. They had the common 11778 G to A or the 3460 G to A mutations. Thus mitochondrial genotypes in LHON are associated with variable phenotypes.