Summary
Two male half siblings developed rapid progression of neurologic symptoms at 11/2 and 21/2 years of age. Neither boy had a metabolic acidosis. Characteristic features of subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy, the neuropathologic basis of Leigh's syndrome, were demonstrated at autopsy. X-linkage of the disorder was considered because the boys had different fathers. An X-linked form of Leigh's syndrome was supported by a review of the literature, which showed an unexplained male/female ratio in Leigh's syndrome of 1.83/l, and a significant excess of male-male siblings. An X-linked form of Leigh's syndrome would explain the excess of males, and may account for some of the clinical and biochemical heterogeneity.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
Atkin BM, Buist NRM, Utter MF, Leiter AB, Banker BQ (1979) Pyruvate carboxylase deficiency and lactic acidosis in a retarded child without Leigh's disease. Pediatr Res 13:109–116
Benke PJ, Parker JC (1981) Unpublished observations
Biass JP, Cederbaum SD, Dunn HE (1976) Biochemical abnormalities in Leigh's disease. Lancet 1:1237–1238
Borit A (1971) Leigh's necrotizing encephalomyelopathy. Arch Ophthalmol 85:438–442
Brahms M, Collins GH, Crosley CJ (1979) Rapidly fatal subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (Leigh's syndrome) in a five-year-old boy Clin Pediatr (Phila) 18:506–508
Brandt NJ, Terenius L, Jacobsen BB, Klinken L, Nordius A, Brandt S, Blegvad K, Yssing M (1980) Hyper-endorphin syndrome in a child with necrotizing encephalomyelopathy. N Engl J Med 303:914–916
Carleton CC, Collins GH, Schimpff RD (1976) Subacute necrotizing encephalopathy (Leigh's disease): Two unusual cases. South Med J 69:1301–1305
Chi JG, Yoo HW, Chang KH, Kim CW, Moon HR, Ko KW (1981) Leigh's subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy: possible diagnosis by CT scan. Neuroradiology 22:141–144
Cooper JR, Pincus JH (1973) Thiamine triphosphate deficiency in Leigh's disease. In: Homes FA, van den Berg CJ (eds) Inborn errors of metabolism. Academic Press, New York, pp 122–127
Crosby TW, Chou SM (1974) “Ragged-red” fibers in Leigh's disease. Neurology 24:49–54
DeVivo DC, Haymond MW, Obert KA, Nelson JS, Pagliara AS (1979) Defective activation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (Leigh's disease). Ann Neurol 6:483–494
Dunn HG, Dolman CL (1972) Necrotizing encephalomyelopathy. Report of a case with manifestations resembling Behr's syndrome. Eur Neurol 7:34–55
Eisengart MA, Powers JM, Rose AL (1974) Subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy. (Rapidly fatal course of Leigh's disease in a 5-year-old child). Am J Dis Child 127:730–732
Evans OB (1981) Pyruvate decarboxylase deficiency in subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy. Arch Neurol 38:515–519
Evans OB, Kilroy GM (1978) Acetazolamide in the treatment of pyruvate dysmetabolism syndromes. Arch Neurol 35:302–315
Farmer TW, Veath L, Miller AL, O'Brien JS, Rosenberg RN (1973) Pyruvate decarboxylase deficiency in a patient with subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy. Neurology 23:429
Feigin I, Kim HS (1977) Subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy in a neonate infant. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 36:364–372
Gordon N, Marsden HB, Lewis DM (1974) Subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy in three siblings. Dev Med Child Neurol 16:64–78
Greenwood RS, DeVivo DC, Nelson JS, Dodson WE, Raiche ME, Gado M, Haymond MW, Prensky AL (1975) An autosomal dominant form of necrotizing encephalomyelopathy resembling a spinocerebellar degeneration. Trans Am Neurol Assoc 100:47–51
Grobe H, Bassewitz DB v, Dominick HC, Pfeifer RA (1975) Subacute necrotizing encephalopathy. Acta Paediatr Scand 64:755–762
Grover WD, Auerbach VH, Patel MS (1972) Biochemical studies and therapy in subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (Leigh's syndrome). J Pediatr 81:39–44
Guggenheim MA (1981) Personal communication
Guggenheim MA, Stumpf DA (1977) Familial metabolic disease with clinicopathological findings of both Leigh's disease and adult-type spinocerebellar degeneration. Ann Neurol 2:264–265
Hansen TL, Christensen E, Brandt NJ (1982) Studies on pyruvate carboxylase, pyruvate decarboxylase and lipoamide dehydrogenase in subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy. Acta Paediatr Scand 71:263–267
Hirschman GH, Chan JCM (1978) Complex acid-base disorders in subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (Leigh's syndrome). Pediatrics 61:278–281
Hommes FA (1973) Discussion. In: Hommes FA, van den Berg CJ (eds) Inborn errors of metabolism. Academic Press, New York, p 127
Hommes FA, Polman HA, Reerink JD (1968) Leigh's encephalomyelopathy: An inborn error of glucogenesis. Arch Dis Child 43:423
Horner FA, Ho Choi B (1980) A new clinical pathologic entity simulating Leigh's disease. Neurology 29:354
Jellinger K, Zimprich H, Muller D (1973) Relapsing form of subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy. Neuropaediatrie 4:314–321
Kalimo H, Lundberg PO, Olsson Y (1979) Familial subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy of the adult form (adult Leigh's syndrome). Ann Neurol 6:200–206
Kamoshita S, Aguilar MJ, Landing BH (1968) Infantile subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy. Am J Dis Child 116:120–129
Kissach AW, Currie S, Harriman DGF, Littleword JM, Payne RB, Walker BE (1974) Leigh's disease and failure of automatic respiration. Lancet 2:662
Kohlschutter A, Kraus-Ruppert R, Rohrer T, Herschkowitz NN (1978) Myelin studies in a case of subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (SNE). J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 37:155–164
Lahl R (1981) Juvenile Form der subakuten nekrotisierenden Encephalomyelopathie (Leigh) mit ungewöhnlicher ZNS-Lokalisation. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 55:237–242
Leigh D (1951) Subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy in an infant. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 14:216–221
Lott IA, Shannon DC (1980) Central respiratory pathology of Leigh disease. Neurology 30:354
McCandless DW, Hodgkin WE (1977) Subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (Leigh's disease). Pediatrics 60:935–936
Montpetit VJA, Andermann F, Carpenter S, Fawcett JS, Zborowska-Sluis D, Giberson HR (1971) Subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy. A review and a study of two families. Brain 94:1–30
Moosa A (1978) Motor nerve conduction velocities in Leigh's encephalomyelopathy. Arch Dis Child 353:62–65
Murphy JV (1973) Subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (Legh's disease): Detection of the heterozygous carrier state. Pediatrics 51: 710–714
Murphy JV, Isuhashi F, Weinberg MB, Utter MF (1981) Pyruvate carboxylase deficiency: an alleged biochemical cause of Leigh's disease. Pediatrics 68:401–404
Ollivier AD, Diebler C (1980) Tomodensitometric cranienne dans la maladie Leigh. Nouv Presse Med 9:2355
Pincus JH (1972) Subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (Leigh's disease): A consideration of clinical features and etiology. Dev Med Child Neurol 14:87–101
Pincus JH, Cooper JR, Murphy JV, Rabe EF, Lonsdale D, Dunn HG (1973) Thiamine derivatives in subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy. Pediatrics 51:716–721
Plaitakis A, Whetsell WO, Cooper JR, Yahr MD (1980) Chronic Leigh disease: a genetic and biochemical study. Ann Neurol 7:304–310
Reed MA (1976) Leigh's disease: A family study. Lancet 1:1237
Robinson F, Solitare GB, Lemarche JB, Levy LL (1967) Necrotizing encephalomyelopathy of childhood. Neurology 17:472–482
Salcedo JR (1981) Personal communication
Salcedo JR, Hodjati H, Hirschman GH, Chan JCM (1976) Distal renal tubular acidosis in an infant with Leigh's syndrome. Pediatr Res 10:443
Saudubray C, Marsac C, Charpentier C, Cathelineau L, Besson Leaud M, Leroux JP (1976) Neonatal congenital lactic acidosis with pyruvate carboxylase deficiency in two siblings. Acta Paediatr Scand 65:717–724
Sauer RN, Ellis WG, Dreyfus PM (1978) Evidence for two biochemically distinct diseases underlying subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (Leigh disease). Neurology 28:349
Schwartz WJ, Hutchison HT, Berg BO (1981) Computerized tomography in subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (Leigh disease). Ann Neurol 10:268–271
Simopoulos AP, Roth JA, Golde DW, Bartter FC (1972) Subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy with vacuolated cells in the bone marrow. Neurology 22:1257–1267
Tada K, Takada G, Omura K, Itokawa Y (1978) Congenital lactic acidosis due to pyruvate carboxylase inhibitor. Eur J Pediatr 127: 141–147
Tang TT, Good TA, Dyken PR, Johnson SD, McCready SR, Sy ST, Lardy HA, Rudolph FB (1972) Pathogenesis of Leigh's encephalomyelopathy. J Pediatr 81:189–190
Toshima K, Kuroda Y, Hashimoto T, Ito M, Watanabe T, Miyao M, Ii K (1982) Enzymologic studies and therapy of Leigh's disease associated with pyruvate decarboxylase deficiency. Pediatr Res 16: 430–435
Vuia O (1975) The cortical form of subacute necrotizing encephalopathy of the Leigh type. J Neurol Sci 26:295–304
Willems JL, Monnens LAH, Trijbels JMH, Veerkamp JH, Meyer AEFH, VanDam K, Van Haelst U (1977) Leigh's encephalomyelopathy in a patient with cytochrome c oxidase deficiency in muscle tissue. Pediatrics 60:850–857
Zanetti G (1978) Encefalomielopatia necrotizzante subacuta (tipo Leigh) con acidosi lattica. Pathologica 70:63–78
Author information
Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Benke, P.J., Parker, J.C., Lubs, ML. et al. X-Linked Leigh's syndrome. Hum Genet 62, 52–59 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00295603
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
Keywords
- Internal Medicine
- Metabolic Disease
- Characteristic Feature
- Neurologic Symptom
- Metabolic Acidosis