Identification of Genetic Variants Causing Paediatric Cataract in Myanmar

Genetic testing for paediatric cataract detects a cause in 50%-70% of affected children but is as low as 20% in some reports. We screened 180 cataract-related genes in 22 children (from 20 families) with paediatric cataract from Myanmar using whole-exome sequencing. Pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants were identified in 45% (9/20) of probands in genes MIP, COL2A1, NHS, GJA8, GJA3, CRYGC, CRYBB2, PAX6 and SLC7A8. Variants of uncertain significance likely to be important were identified in three children for a maximum diagnostic rate of 12/20 probands (60%) comparable to other reports. This is the first study to examine the genetics of paediatric cataract in Myanmar.