Retinal Ganglion Cell Loss in X-linked Adrenoleukodystrophy with an ABCD1 Mutation (Gly266Arg)

Abstract

The authors here report a single case of a 10-year-old male patient who presented with severe vision loss associated with progressive demyelination. The patient was diagnosed with X-linked childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). Genetic analysis demonstrated a missense mutation (Gly266Arg) in exon 1 of the ABCD1 gene. His corrected visual acuity confirmed the absolute lack of light perception in both eyes. Funduscopy revealed severe pallor of the optic disc in both eyes. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography showed thinning of the retinal ganglion cell and inner plexiform layers (GCL and IPL). Thinning of the GCL and IPL may be due to transneuronal retrograde degeneration of ganglion cells secondary to optic tract demyelination.

• ABCD1 mutation
• adrenoleukodystrophy
• ganglion cell layer
• optical coherence tomography
• retrograde degeneration

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) 25462738 to T.H.).

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

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