• Sherin Shaaban, Leigh Ramos-Platt, Floyd H Gilles, Wai-Man Chan, Caroline Andrews, Umberto De Girolami, Joseph Demer, and Elizabeth C Engle.
• Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts2F. B. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts3Program in Genomics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts4Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts5Dubai Harvard Foundation for Medical Research, Boston, Massachusetts.
• JAMA Ophthalmol. 2013 Dec 1;131(12):1532-40.

ImportanceTotal ophthalmoplegia can result from ryanodine receptor 1 (RYR1) mutations without overt associated skeletal myopathy. Patients carrying RYR1 mutations are at high risk of developing malignant hyperthermia. Ophthalmologists should be familiar with these important clinical associations.ObjectiveTo determine the genetic cause of congenital ptosis, ophthalmoplegia, facial paralysis, and mild hypotonia segregating in 2 pedigrees diagnosed with atypical Moebius syndrome or congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles.Design, Setting, And ParticipantsClinical data including medical and family histories were collected at research laboratories at Boston Children's Hospital and Jules Stein Eye Institute (Engle and Demer labs) for affected and unaffected family members from 2 pedigrees in which patients presented with total ophthalmoplegia, facial weakness, and myopathy.InterventionHomozygosity mapping and whole-exome sequencing were conducted to identify causative mutations in affected family members. Histories, physical examinations, and clinical data were reviewed.Main Outcome And MeasureMutations in RYR1.ResultsMissense mutations resulting in 2 homozygous RYR1 amino acid substitutions (E989G and R3772W) and 2 compound heterozygous RYR1 substitutions (H283R and R3772W) were identified in a consanguineous and a nonconsanguineous pedigree, respectively. Orbital magnetic resonance imaging revealed marked hypoplasia of extraocular muscles and intraorbital cranial nerves. Skeletal muscle biopsy specimens revealed nonspecific myopathic changes. Clinically, the patients' ophthalmoplegia and facial weakness were far more significant than their hypotonia and limb weakness and were accompanied by an unrecognized susceptibility to malignant hyperthermia.Conclusions And RelevanceAffected children presenting with severe congenital ophthalmoplegia and facial weakness in the setting of only mild skeletal myopathy harbored recessive mutations in RYR1, encoding the ryanodine receptor 1, and were susceptible to malignant hyperthermia. While ophthalmoplegia occurs rarely in RYR1-related myopathies, these children were atypical because they lacked significant weakness, respiratory insufficiency, or scoliosis. RYR1-associated myopathies should be included in the differential diagnosis of congenital ophthalmoplegia and facial weakness, even without clinical skeletal myopathy. These patients should also be considered susceptible to malignant hyperthermia, a life-threatening anesthetic complication avoidable if anticipated presurgically.

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