Background: Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy is associated with point mutations in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that appear to be pathogenic for this disease. These mutations affect nucleotide positions 3460, 11,778 and 14,484.
Materials and methods: We reviewed the clinical and molecular genetic characteristics of 29 visually symptomatic patients with the clinical diagnosis of LHON.
Results: Nine patients really suffered from LHON, but in 20 patients other ocular diseases could be proven. Degeneration of the retina and choroid was most common (seven patients), followed by vascular optic disease (six patients). Three patients suffered from tobacco-alcohol amblyopia, two from optic neuritis and two from autosomal dominant optic neuropathy.
Conclusions: The clinical diagnosis of LHON is strengthened by a proven maternal inheritance and clinical signs such as a severe decrease in visual acuity, central or centrocecal scotomas in the perimetry and pseudoedema of the optic disc, followed by optic atrophy. Pathognomonic clinical signs of LHON are twisted vessels and ectatic capillaries in the fundus of these patients and their relatives of the maternal line, i.e., peripapillary microangiopathy. A careful analysis of the patients' pedigrees, anamnesis and the functional and morphological results of the clinical examinations helps to avoid misdiagnosis of the disease. However, the expensive and time-consuming molecular genetic analysis is always necessary to confirm or exclude the diagnosis of LHON.