1
|
Teixeira BM, Figueiredo I, Raimundo M, Quental H, Carvalho AL, Silva R, Murta J, Marques JP. Expanding the mutational and phenotypical spectrum of FHONDA syndrome. Eur J Ophthalmol 2024:11206721241284072. [PMID: 39275842 DOI: 10.1177/11206721241284072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/16/2024]
Abstract
Foveal hypoplasia, optic nerve decussation, and anterior segment dysgenesis (FHONDA) is a rare recessively inherited syndrome first described in 2013. FHONDA is associated with biallelic disease-causing variants in the SLC38A8 gene, which has a strong expression in the photoreceptor layer. To date, 60 different disease-causing variants in the SLC38A8 gene have been described. In this cross-sectional case series, we included three unrelated female patients with FHONDA syndrome who presented with congenital nystagmus and decreased visual acuity from infancy. Best-corrected visual acuity was 20/100 OD and 20/60 OS for Patient 1 (P1) (72 years old); light perception OD and hand motion OS for Patient 2 (P2) (66 years old); and 20/100 OD and 20/100 OS for Patient 3 (P3) (25 years old). While normal retinal pigmentation was seen on P1 and P3, P2 presented retinal features of retinitis pigmentosa, including a pale optic nerve head, vessel thinning, and 360° dense bone spicule hyperpigmentation OU. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography revealed grade 4 foveal hypoplasia in all patients. In P1 and P2, the novel class IV c.388 + 1G > T p.? variant in SLC38A8 was present in homozygosity; while P3 harboured the novel c.214G > C p.(Gly72Arg) variant in homozygosity, classified as class III. Thus, we expand the mutational spectrum of FHONDA by reporting two novel variants. In addition, we describe features of retinitis pigmentosa for the first time in a patient with biallelic homozygous SLC38A8 variants, thus broadening our understanding of the clinical phenotype associated with this rare syndrome.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Inês Figueiredo
- Ophthalmology Unit, Unidade Local de Saúde (ULS) de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Miguel Raimundo
- Ophthalmology Unit, Unidade Local de Saúde (ULS) de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- University Clinic of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra (FMUC), Coimbra, Portugal
- Clinical Academic Center of Coimbra (CACC), Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Hugo Quental
- Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Coimbra, Portugal
- Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Ana Luísa Carvalho
- Clinical Academic Center of Coimbra (CACC), Coimbra, Portugal
- Medical Genetics Unit, Unidade Local de Saúde (ULS) de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- University Clinic of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra (FMUC), Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Rufino Silva
- Ophthalmology Unit, Unidade Local de Saúde (ULS) de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- University Clinic of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra (FMUC), Coimbra, Portugal
- Clinical Academic Center of Coimbra (CACC), Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Joaquim Murta
- Ophthalmology Unit, Unidade Local de Saúde (ULS) de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- University Clinic of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra (FMUC), Coimbra, Portugal
- Clinical Academic Center of Coimbra (CACC), Coimbra, Portugal
| | - João Pedro Marques
- Ophthalmology Unit, Unidade Local de Saúde (ULS) de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- University Clinic of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra (FMUC), Coimbra, Portugal
- Clinical Academic Center of Coimbra (CACC), Coimbra, Portugal
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Kruijt CC, de Wit GC, van Minderhout HM, Schalij-Delfos NE, van Genderen MM. Clinical and mutational characteristics of oculocutaneous albinism type 7. Sci Rep 2024; 14:7572. [PMID: 38555393 PMCID: PMC10981718 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-57969-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 03/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024] Open
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to expand on the phenotype of oculocutaneous albinism type 7 (OCA7). We described three patients with OCA7: two from a consanguineous family of Kurdish origin and one patient of Dutch origin. We compared them with all patients described to date in the literature. All newly described patients had severely reduced visual acuity (VA), nystagmus, hypopigmentation of the fundus, severe foveal hypoplasia, and chiasmal misrouting. None had iris translucency. All patients had normal pigmentation of skin and hair. We found one novel mutation in the Dutch patient: c.565G > A; p.(Gly189Ser). We compared our patients to the 15 described in the literature to date. All 18 patients had substantially pigmented skin and hair, very poor VA (0.4-1.3 logMAR), nystagmus, (mild) ocular hypopigmentation, foveal hypoplasia, and misrouting. Although pigmentation levels were mildly affected in OCA7, patients had a severe ocular phenotype with VA at the poorer end of the albinism spectrum, severe foveal hypoplasia, and chiasmal misrouting. OCA7 patients had a phenotype restricted to the eyes, and similar to that of X-linked ocular albinism. We therefore propose to rename the disorder in ocular albinism type 2. Unfolding the role of LRMDA in OCA7, may bring us a step closer in identifying the responsible factors for the co-occurrence of foveal hypoplasia and misrouting.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C C Kruijt
- Bartiméus Diagnostic Center for Complex Visual Disorders, Zeist, The Netherlands.
- Department of Ophthalmology, Leiden University Medical Center, J3-S, Albinusdreef 2, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - G C de Wit
- Bartiméus Diagnostic Center for Complex Visual Disorders, Zeist, The Netherlands
| | - H M van Minderhout
- Department of Ophthalmology, Medical Center Haaglanden, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - N E Schalij-Delfos
- Department of Ophthalmology, Leiden University Medical Center, J3-S, Albinusdreef 2, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - M M van Genderen
- Bartiméus Diagnostic Center for Complex Visual Disorders, Zeist, The Netherlands
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
The retinal pigmentation pathway in human albinism: Not so black and white. Prog Retin Eye Res 2022; 91:101091. [PMID: 35729001 DOI: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2022.101091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 05/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Albinism is a pigment disorder affecting eye, skin and/or hair. Patients usually have decreased melanin in affected tissues and suffer from severe visual abnormalities, including foveal hypoplasia and chiasmal misrouting. Combining our data with those of the literature, we propose a single functional genetic retinal signalling pathway that includes all 22 currently known human albinism disease genes. We hypothesise that defects affecting the genesis or function of different intra-cellular organelles, including melanosomes, cause syndromic forms of albinism (Hermansky-Pudlak (HPS) and Chediak-Higashi syndrome (CHS)). We put forward that specific melanosome impairments cause different forms of oculocutaneous albinism (OCA1-8). Further, we incorporate GPR143 that has been implicated in ocular albinism (OA1), characterised by a phenotype limited to the eye. Finally, we include the SLC38A8-associated disorder FHONDA that causes an even more restricted "albinism-related" ocular phenotype with foveal hypoplasia and chiasmal misrouting but without pigmentation defects. We propose the following retinal pigmentation pathway, with increasingly specific genetic and cellular defects causing an increasingly specific ocular phenotype: (HPS1-11/CHS: syndromic forms of albinism)-(OCA1-8: OCA)-(GPR143: OA1)-(SLC38A8: FHONDA). Beyond disease genes involvement, we also evaluate a range of (candidate) regulatory and signalling mechanisms affecting the activity of the pathway in retinal development, retinal pigmentation and albinism. We further suggest that the proposed pigmentation pathway is also involved in other retinal disorders, such as age-related macular degeneration. The hypotheses put forward in this report provide a framework for further systematic studies in albinism and melanin pigmentation disorders.
Collapse
|
4
|
Expanding the Spectrum of Oculocutaneous Albinism: Does Isolated Foveal Hypoplasia Really Exist? Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23147825. [PMID: 35887175 PMCID: PMC9317384 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23147825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2022] [Revised: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Oculocutaneous albinism is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by the presence of typical ocular features, such as foveal hypoplasia, iris translucency, hypopigmented fundus oculi and reduced pigmentation of skin and hair. Albino patients can show significant clinical variability; some individuals can present with only mild depigmentation and subtle ocular changes. Here, we provide a retrospective review of the standardized clinical charts of patients firstly addressed for evaluation of foveal hypoplasia and slightly subnormal visual acuity, whose diagnosis of albinism was achieved only after extensive phenotypic and genotypic characterization. Our report corroborates the pathogenicity of the two common TYR polymorphisms p.(Arg402Gln) and p.(Ser192Tyr) when both are located in trans with a pathogenic TYR variant and aims to expand the phenotypic spectrum of albinism in order to increase the detection rate of the albino phenotype. Our data also suggest that isolated foveal hypoplasia should be considered a clinical sign instead of a definitive diagnosis of an isolated clinical entity, and we recommend deep phenotypic and molecular characterization in such patients to achieve a proper diagnosis.
Collapse
|
5
|
Neveu MM, Padhy SK, Ramamurthy S, Takkar B, Jalali S, Cp D, Padhi TR, Robson AG. Ophthalmological Manifestations of Oculocutaneous and Ocular Albinism: Current Perspectives. Clin Ophthalmol 2022; 16:1569-1587. [PMID: 35637898 PMCID: PMC9148211 DOI: 10.2147/opth.s329282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Albinism describes a heterogeneous group of genetically determined disorders characterized by disrupted synthesis of melanin and a range of developmental ocular abnormalities. The main ocular features common to both oculocutaneous albinism (OCA), and ocular albinism (OA) include reduced visual acuity, refractive errors, foveal hypoplasia, congenital nystagmus, iris and fundus hypopigmentation and visual pathway misrouting, but clinical signs vary and there is phenotypic overlap with other pathologies. This study reviews the prevalence, genetics and ocular manifestations of OCA and OA, including abnormal development of the optic chiasm. The role of visual electrophysiology in the detection of chiasmal dysfunction and visual pathway misrouting is emphasized, highlighting how age-associated changes in visual evoked potential (VEP) test results must be considered to enable accurate diagnosis, and illustrated further by the inclusion of novel VEP data in genetically confirmed cases. Differential diagnosis is considered in the context of suspected retinal and other disorders, including rare syndromes that may masquerade as albinism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Magella M Neveu
- Department Electrophysiology, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, EC1V 2PD, UK.,Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
| | | | | | - Brijesh Takkar
- Anant Bajaj Retina Institute, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India
| | - Subhadra Jalali
- Anant Bajaj Retina Institute, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India
| | - Deepika Cp
- Anant Bajaj Retina Institute, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India
| | - Tapas Ranjan Padhi
- Anant Bajaj Retina Institute, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneswar, India
| | - Anthony G Robson
- Department Electrophysiology, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, EC1V 2PD, UK.,Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Kruijt CC, Gradstein L, Bergen AA, Florijn RJ, Arveiler B, Lasseaux E, Zanlonghi X, Bagdonaite-Bejarano L, Fulton AB, Yahalom C, Blumenfeld A, Perez Y, Birk OS, de Wit GC, Schalij-Delfos NE, van Genderen MM. The Phenotypic and Mutational Spectrum of the FHONDA Syndrome and Oculocutaneous Albinism: Similarities and Differences. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2022; 63:19. [PMID: 35029636 PMCID: PMC8762694 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.63.1.19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this study was to further expand the mutational spectrum of the Foveal Hypoplasia, Optic Nerve Decussation defect, and Anterior segment abnormalities (FHONDA syndrome), to describe the phenotypic spectrum, and to compare it to albinism. Subjects and Methods We retrospectively collected molecular, ophthalmic, and electrophysiological data of 28 patients molecularly confirmed with FHONDA from the Netherlands (9), Israel (13), France (2), and the United States of America (4). We compared the data to that of 133 Dutch patients with the 3 most common types of albinism in the Netherlands: oculocutaneous albinism type 1 (49), type 2 (41), and ocular albinism (43). Results Patients with FHONDA had a total of 15 different mutations in SLC38A8, of which 6 were novel. Excluding missing data, all patients had moderate to severe visual impairment (median visual acuity [VA] = 0.7 logMAR, interquartile range [IQR] = 0.6-0.8), nystagmus (28/28), and grade 4 foveal hypoplasia (17/17). Misrouting was present in all nine tested patients. None of the patients had any signs of hypopigmentation of skin and hair. VA in albinism was better (median = 0.5 logMAR, IQR = 0.3-0.7, P 0.006) and the phenotypes were more variable: 14 of 132 without nystagmus, foveal hypoplasia grades 1 to 4, and misrouting absent in 16 of 74. Conclusions Compared to albinism, the FHONDA syndrome appears to have a more narrow phenotypic spectrum, consisting of nonprogressive moderately to severely reduced VA, nystagmus, severe foveal hypoplasia, and misrouting. The co-occurrence of nystagmus, foveal hypoplasia, and misrouting in the absence of hypopigmentation implies that these abnormalities are not caused by lack of melanin, which has important implications for understanding the pathogenesis of these features.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte C Kruijt
- Bartiméus Diagnostic Center for Complex Visual Disorders, Zeist, The Netherlands.,Department of Ophthalmology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Libe Gradstein
- Department of Ophthalmology, Soroka Medical Center and Clalit Health Services, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
| | - Arthur A Bergen
- Department of Human Genetics, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,The Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences (NIN-KNAW), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Ophthalmology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ralph J Florijn
- Department of Human Genetics, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Benoit Arveiler
- Maladies Rares: Génétique et Métabolisme (MRGM), Inserm U1211, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.,Department of Medical Genetics, CHU Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | | | - Xavier Zanlonghi
- Centre de Compétence Maladie Rares, Clinique Pluridisciplinaire Jules Verne, Nantes, France
| | | | - Anne B Fulton
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States.,Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Claudia Yahalom
- Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; Department of Ophthalmology, Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Anat Blumenfeld
- Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; Department of Ophthalmology, Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Yonatan Perez
- The Morris Kahn Laboratory of Human Genetics, National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev and Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
| | - Ohad S Birk
- The Morris Kahn Laboratory of Human Genetics, National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev and Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.,Genetics Institute, Soroka Medical Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
| | - Gerard C de Wit
- Bartiméus Diagnostic Center for Complex Visual Disorders, Zeist, The Netherlands
| | | | - Maria M van Genderen
- Bartiméus Diagnostic Center for Complex Visual Disorders, Zeist, The Netherlands.,Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Evident hypopigmentation without other ocular deficits in Dutch patients with oculocutaneous albinism type 4. Sci Rep 2021; 11:11572. [PMID: 34078970 PMCID: PMC8172864 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-90896-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
To describe the phenotype of Dutch patients with oculocutaneous albinism type 4 (OCA4), we collected data on pigmentation (skin, hair, and eyes), visual acuity (VA), nystagmus, foveal hypoplasia, chiasmal misrouting, and molecular analyses of nine Dutch OCA4 patients from the Bartiméus Diagnostic Center for complex visual disorders. All patients had severely reduced pigmentation of skin, hair, and eyes with iris transillumination over 360 degrees. Three unrelated OCA4 patients had normal VA, no nystagmus, no foveal hypoplasia, and no misrouting of the visual pathways. Six patients had poor visual acuity (0.6 to 1.0 logMAR), nystagmus, severe foveal hypoplasia and misrouting. We found two novel variants in the SLC45A2 gene, c.310C > T; (p.Pro104Ser), and c.1368 + 3_1368 + 9del; (p.?). OCA4 patients of this Dutch cohort all had hypopigmentation of skin, hair, and iris translucency. However, patients were either severely affected with regard to visual acuity, foveal hypoplasia, and misrouting, or visually not affected at all. We describe for the first time OCA4 patients with an evident lack of pigmentation, but normal visual acuity, normal foveal development and absence of misrouting. This implies that absence of melanin does not invariably lead to foveal hypoplasia and abnormal routing of the visual pathways.
Collapse
|
8
|
Kessel L, Kjer B, Lei U, Duno M, Grønskov K. Genotype-phenotype associations in Danish patients with ocular and oculocutaneous albinism. Ophthalmic Genet 2021; 42:230-238. [PMID: 33612058 DOI: 10.1080/13816810.2021.1881979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The study aimed to describe genotype-phenotype associations in patients with oculocutaneous and ocular-only albinism and to evaluate a set of diagnostic criteria proposed recently by Kruijt et al. MATERIALS AND METHODS Genotype-phenotype associations in patients with a clinical diagnosis of albinism were studied based on imaging of hair and ocular features (nystagmus, iris color and translucency, fundus pigmentation and foveal development) and self-evaluated skin type. Patients were sub-grouped based on genetic findings. RESULTS Patients with biallelic variants in TYR (n = 29), OCA2 (n = 22), other albinism genes (n = 13) or monoallelic variants in GPR143 (n = 13) were included as were 15 patients with a pure clinical diagnosis but no genetic findings. In descending order the most common findings were: foveal hypoplasia (any hypoplasia 95.2%, severe 88.0%), nystagmus (93.5%), iris translucency (any translucency 80.2%, moderate to severe 31.5%), misrouting on VEP (80.0%): fundus hypopigmentation (any hypopigmentation: 75.8%, severe 30.1%), fair skin type (73.8%), blue irides (62.0%), blonde hair (57.5%), and unpigmented eye lashes (39.1%). There were no phenotypic differences between the different genetic subgroups of albinism but patients with a pathogenic haplotype in TYR in combination with a classic variant had less iris translucency than patients with two classic variants in TYR. CONCLUSIONS Ocular developmental features were the most common findings whereas phenotypic features related to pigmentation were less common findings but there were no genotype-phenotype correlations. All patients with a genetically confirmed diagnosis of albinism fulfilled the diagnostic criteria by Kruijt irrespective of genetic subtype.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Line Kessel
- Department of Ophthalmology, Rigshospitalet-Kennedy Center, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Denmark
| | - Birgit Kjer
- Department of Ophthalmology, Rigshospitalet-Kennedy Center, Denmark
| | - Ulrikke Lei
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Denmark.,Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, Denmark
| | - Morten Duno
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Rigshospitalet-Kennedy Center, Denmark
| | - Karen Grønskov
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Rigshospitalet-Kennedy Center, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Bi Q, Shen L, Evans R, Zhang Z, Wang S, Dai W, Liu C. Determining the Topic Evolution and Sentiment Polarity for Albinism in a Chinese Online Health Community: Machine Learning and Social Network Analysis. JMIR Med Inform 2020; 8:e17813. [PMID: 32469320 PMCID: PMC7293058 DOI: 10.2196/17813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2020] [Revised: 03/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND There are more than 6000 rare diseases in existence today, with the number of patients with these conditions rapidly increasing. Most research to date has focused on the diagnosis, treatment, and development of orphan drugs, while few studies have examined the topics and emotions expressed by patients living with rare diseases on social media platforms, especially in online health communities (OHCs). OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine the topic categorizations and sentiment polarity for albinism in a Chinese OHC, Baidu Tieba, using multiple methods. The OHC was deeply mined using topic mining, social network analysis, and sentiment polarity analysis. Through these methods, we determined the current situation of community construction, identifying the ongoing needs and problems experienced by people with albinism in their daily lives. METHODS We used the albinism community on the Baidu Tieba platform as the data source in this study. Term frequency-inverse document frequency, latent dirichlet allocation models, and naive Bayes were employed to mine the various topic categories. Social network analysis, which was completed using the Gephi tool, was employed to analyze the evolution of the albinism community. Sentiment polarity analysis was performed using a long short-term memory algorithm. RESULTS We identified 8 main topics discussed in the community: daily sharing, family, interpersonal communication, social life and security, medical care, occupation and education, beauty, and self-care. Among these topics, daily sharing represented the largest proportion of the discussions. From 2012 to 2019, the average degree and clustering coefficient of the albinism community continued to decline, while the network center transferred from core communities to core users. A total of 68.43% of the corpus was emotional, with 35.88% being positive and 32.55% negative. There were statistically significant differences in the distribution of sentiment polarity between topics (P<.001). Negative emotions were twice as high as positive emotions in the social life and security topic. CONCLUSIONS The study reveals insights into the emotions expressed by people with albinism in the Chinese OHC, Baidu Tieba, providing health care practitioners with greater appreciation of the current emotional support needed by patients and the patient experience. Current OHCs do not exert enough influence due to limited effective organization and development. Health care sectors should take greater advantage of OHCs to support vulnerable patients with rare diseases to meet their evidence-based needs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qiqing Bi
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China
- Hubei Provincial Research Center for Health Technology Assessment, Wuhan, China
- Institute of Smart Health, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Lining Shen
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China
- Hubei Provincial Research Center for Health Technology Assessment, Wuhan, China
- Institute of Smart Health, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Richard Evans
- College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, Brunel University London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Zhiguo Zhang
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China
- Hubei Provincial Research Center for Health Technology Assessment, Wuhan, China
| | - Shimin Wang
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China
- Hubei Provincial Research Center for Health Technology Assessment, Wuhan, China
| | - Wei Dai
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Cui Liu
- School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China
| |
Collapse
|