MedGen

A disease that has its basis in the disruption of DNA repair. [from MONDO]

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a multisystem disorder that affects skeletal and smooth muscle as well as the eye, heart, endocrine system, and central nervous system. The clinical findings, which span a continuum from mild to severe, have been categorized into three somewhat overlapping phenotypes: mild, classic, and congenital. Mild DM1 is characterized by cataract and mild myotonia (sustained muscle contraction); life span is normal. Classic DM1 is characterized by muscle weakness and wasting, myotonia, cataract, and often cardiac conduction abnormalities; adults may become physically disabled and may have a shortened life span. Congenital DM1 is characterized by hypotonia and severe generalized weakness at birth, often with respiratory insufficiency and early death; intellectual disability is common. [from GeneReviews]

Myotonic dystrophy is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized mainly by myotonia, muscular dystrophy, cataracts, hypogonadism, frontal balding, and ECG changes. The genetic defect in DM1 results from an amplified trinucleotide repeat in the 3-prime untranslated region of a protein kinase gene. Disease severity varies with the number of repeats: normal individuals have 5 to 37 repeats, mildly affected persons have 50 to 150 repeats, patients with classic DM have 100 to 1,000 repeats, and those with onset at birth can have more than 2,000 repeats. The disorder shows genetic anticipation, with expansion of the repeat number dependent on the sex of the transmitting parent. Alleles of 40 to 80 repeats are usually expanded when transmitted by males, whereas only alleles longer than 80 repeats tend to expand in maternal transmissions. Repeat contraction events occur 4.2 to 6.4% of the time (Musova et al., 2009). Genetic Heterogeneity of Myotonic Dystrophy See also myotonic dystrophy-2 (DM2; 602668), which is caused by mutation in the ZNF9 gene (116955) on chromosome 3q21. [from OMIM]