RT Journal Article
A1 Kirkman, Matthew Anthony
A1 Korsten, Alex
A1 Leonhardt, Miriam
A1 Dimitriadis, Konstantin
A1 De Coo, Ireneaus F.
A1 Klopstock, Thomas
A1 Griffiths, Philip G.
A1 Hudson, Gavin
A1 Chinnery, Patrick F.
A1 Yu-Wai-Man, Patrick
T1 Quality of Life in Patients with Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy
JF Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
JO Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.
YR 2009
DO 10.1167/iovs.08-3166
VO 50
IS 7
SP 3112
OP 3115
SN 1552-5783
AB   purpose. Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is an inherited mitochondrial optic neuropathy characterized by bilateral, severe loss of central vision. In this study, the first formal assessment was conducted of visual disability in affected and unaffected individuals from molecularly confirmed LHON pedigrees.  methods. Four hundred two LHON carriers—196 affected and 206 unaffected—from 125 genealogically distinct pedigrees were prospectively interviewed using the well-validated visual function index (VF-14) questionnaire: m.3460G>A (n = 71), m.11778G>A (n = 270), and m.14484T>C (n = 61).  results. The mean age of onset of visual loss was 27.9 years (SD, 14.9) and mean disease duration was 15.5 years (SD, 15.4), with 74.5% of the affected subjects being men. The mean VF-14 score was 25.1 (SD, 20.8) in the affected patients, compared with 97.3 (SD, 7.1) in the unaffected carriers. Within the affected group, VF-14 score did not worsen with increasing disease duration and individuals with the m.14484T>C mutation had higher VF-14 scores compared with those in the m.3460G>A and m.11778G>A groups. Reading small print and reading a newspaper or book were the two VF-14 items that presented the greatest difficulty.  conclusions. LHON has a severe negative impact on quality of life and has the worst VF-14 score when compared with other previously studied ophthalmic disorders. However, affected LHON carriers can be reassured that their level of visual impairment is unlikely to progress with time. The VF-14 questionnaire will be a useful tool for assessing the natural history of LHON and measuring outcome in future treatment trials. 
RD 2/25/2021
UL https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.08-3166