Mitochondrial disease with encephalopathy or limb girdle myopathy: a report of five cases

Over the past 13 years at VGH-Taipei, five cases were morphologically defined as having mitochondrial disease and clinically presented with syndromes other than chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia. There were two cases presenting with dementia, extensive and symmetrical intracerebral calcification but no clinical and other laboratory evidence of skeletal muscle affection; one case with MERRF syndrome; one case with congenital myopathy and cardiomyopathy; and one case with prednisolone-responsive and polymyositis-like myopathy. The following comments are made: 1. The inexplicably lower incidence of encephalopathy group might result from inadequate alertness of clinicians. 2. The clinical classification might have some clinical convenience, but, identification of defects at the DAN level and determination of the phenotypic expression with clinical, morphologic and biochemical methods are fundamental for future rational diagnosis and classification of mitochondrial diseases.