A family with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and Leber's optic atrophy

A family has been studied in which members of 4 generations were affected by the hypertrophic type of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The diagnosis was confirmed by electrophysiological studies and by sural nerve biopsy. 10 members of the family, 8 males and 2 females, developed optic atrophy of acute onset with progression over a period of two to six months. The history of visual failure, its maternal inheritance, and the neuro-ophthalmological findings of optic atrophy with bilateral central scotomata were typical of Leber's optic atrophy. 2 members of the family suffered from both Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and Leber's optic atrophy. There have been a few previous reports of optic atrophy associated with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and in the present family both conditions appeared to have been inherited independently.