Bilateral total retinal detachment at birth: a case report of Walker-Warburg syndrome

RETINAL MANIFESTATIONS OF WALKER-WARBURG SYNDROME IN TWO SIBLINGS WITH RXYLT1 MUTATIONS

PURPOSE

We report two siblings with genetically confirmed Walker-Warburg syndrome (WWS), studied with multimodal imaging, who presented with different retinal manifestations.

METHODS

This is a retrospective report of two WWS cases with ultra-widefield fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, and ultrasound. Molecular diagnosis was achieved using panel testing and targeted variant testing.

RESULTS

Two siblings, one male and one female, born 17 months apart with a diagnosis of WWS underwent retinal examination with imaging. The 3-month-old female infant exhibited microphthalmia, persistent hyaloidal arteries, and retrolental membranes with total tractional retinal detachments on ultrasound in both eyes. The 22-day-old male newborn exhibited persistent hyaloidal arteries and extensive peripheral avascular retina on angiography in both eyes. Both were found to be positive for the same two pathogenic variants in the RXYLT1/TMEM5 gene, which accounts for approximately 9% of cases of genetically confirmed WWS.

CONCLUSION

Siblings with genetically confirmed WWS can have variable presentations despite identical genotype. This highlights the phenotypic disease spectrum of WWS, which may be similar to that seen in familial exudative vitreoretinopathy.

Retinal Detachment Present at Birth in an Infant With a Novel CTNNB1 Mutation

A full-term neonate was diagnosed on birth with a unilateral total retinal detachment. The contralateral eye had extensive fibrovascular proliferation, temporal dragging, and peripheral nonvascularized retina. Genetic testing confirmed a mutation in the CTNNB1 gene, which has been associated with familiar exudative vitreoretinopathy and phenotypic features including intellectual disability and spastic diplegia. This novel mutation and its associated syndrome should be considered as a cause of retinal detachment presenting in the neonatal period. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina 2022; 53:403-405.].