Kearns–Sayre syndrome: a case series of 35 adults and children

Abstract

Background

Kearns–Sayre syndrome (KSS) is a rare mitochondrial cytopathy, first described at Mayo Clinic in 1958.

Aims

We aimed to define patient and disease characteristics in a large group of adult and pediatric patients with KSS.

Methods

We retrospectively searched the Mayo Clinic medical index patient database for the records of patients with KSS between 1976 and 2009. The 35 patients identified with KSS were analyzed in terms of demographic characteristics, presenting signs and symptoms, diagnostic features, clinical evolution, and associations between disease features and the development of disability.

Results

The mean (standard [SD]) age at KSS presentation was 17 (10) years, but the mean age at diagnosis was 26 (15) years. Ophthalmologic symptoms developed in all patients, and neurologic and cardiac involvement was common. Only four patients (11%) in the series died, but all deaths were from sudden cardiac events. The development of physical disability was significantly associated with cognitive decline (P=0.004) but not with other clinical features, such as sex or sudden cardiac death.

Conclusion

We report the largest case series to date of patients with KSS from a single institution. In addition to the conduction system abnormalities identified in previous series, our cohort included patients with syncope and sudden cardiac death. This underscores the need to consider formal electrophysiologic studies and prophylactic defibrillators in patients with KSS.

Keywords:

• heart block
• mitochondrial diseases
• ophthalmoplegia
• retinitis pigmentosa

Acknowledgments

We thank Barbara Abbott for help with the medical index database search.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.