Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy: non-French-Canadian pedigrees

Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) is a late adult onset, autosomal dominant muscular dystrophy characterized by ptosis and dysphagia. The OPMD gene has been localized to chromosome 14q11.2-q13 in French-Canadian pedigrees. We report 2 non-French-Canadian families with OPMD. Affected ancestors were immigrants to the United States from Italy and Normandy. The Norman pedigree does not share the French-Canadian haplotype. OPMD appears to be a heterogeneous disorder with similar phenotypes, but probably with different gene loci.