@article {735, title = {Detailed genetic characteristics of an international large cohort of patients with Stargardt disease: ProgStar study report 8.}, journal = {Br J Ophthalmol}, volume = {103}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 03}, pages = {390-397}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To describe the genetic characteristics of the cohort enrolled in the international multicentre progression of Stargardt disease~1 (STGD1) studies (ProgStar) and to~determine geographic differences based on the allele frequency.

METHODS: 345 participants with a clinical diagnosis of STGD1 and harbouring at least one disease-causing ABCA4 variant were enrolled from 9 centres in the USA and Europe. All variants were reviewed and analysis was performed including allele frequency in public databases and pathogenicity predictions. Participants with multiple likely pathogenic variants were classified into four national subgroups (USA, UK, France, Germany), with subsequent comparison analysis of the allele frequency for each prevalent allele.

RESULTS: 211 likely pathogenic variants were identified in the total cohort, including missense (63\%), splice site alteration (18\%), stop (9\%) and others. 50 variants were novel. Exclusively missense variants were detected in 139 (50\%) of 279 patients with multiple pathogenic variants. The three most prevalent variants of these patients with multiple pathogenic variants were p.G1961E (15\%), p.G863A (7\%)~and~c.5461-10 T>C (5\%). Subgroup analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between the four recruiting nations in the allele frequency of nine variants.

CONCLUSIONS: There is a large spectrum of ABCA4 sequence variants, including 50 novel variants, in a well-characterised cohort thereby further adding to the unique allelic heterogeneity in STGD1. Approximately half of the cohort harbours missense variants only, indicating a relatively mild phenotype of the ProgStar cohort. There are significant differences in allele frequencies between nations, although the three most prevalent variants are shared as frequent variants.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Age of Onset, Aged, ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters, Child, Child, Preschool, Cohort Studies, Databases, Factual, DNA Mutational Analysis, Female, Gene Frequency, Genotyping Techniques, Geography, Humans, Internationality, Macular Degeneration, Male, Middle Aged, Mutation, Polymerase Chain Reaction}, issn = {1468-2079}, doi = {10.1136/bjophthalmol-2018-312064}, author = {Fujinami, Kaoru and Strauss, Rupert W and Chiang, John Pei-Wen and Audo, Isabelle S and Bernstein, Paul S and Birch, David G and Bomotti, Samantha M and Cideciyan, Artur V and Ervin, Ann-Margret and Marino, Meghan J and Sahel, Jos{\'e}-Alain and Mohand-Said, Saddek and Sunness, Janet S and Traboulsi, Elias I and West, Sheila and Wojciechowski, Robert and Zrenner, Eberhart and Michaelides, Michel and Scholl, Hendrik P N} } @article {48, title = {Comparison of Short-Wavelength Reduced-Illuminance and Conventional Autofluorescence Imaging in Stargardt Macular Dystrophy.}, journal = {Am J Ophthalmol}, volume = {168}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Aug}, pages = {269-278}, abstract = {

PURPOSE: To compare grading results between short-wavelength reduced-illuminance and conventional autofluorescence imaging in Stargardt macular dystrophy.

DESIGN: Reliability study.

METHODS: setting: Moorfields Eye Hospital, London (United Kingdom).

PATIENTS: Eighteen patients (18 eyes) with Stargardt macular dystrophy.

OBSERVATION PROCEDURES: A series of 3 fundus autofluorescence images using 3 different acquisition parameters on a custom-patched device were obtained: (1) 25\% laser power and total sensitivity 87; (2) 25\% laser power and freely adjusted sensitivity; and (3) 100\% laser power and freely adjusted total sensitivity (conventional). The total area of 2 hypoautofluorescent lesion types (definitely decreased autofluorescence and poorly demarcated questionably decreased autofluorescence) was measured.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Agreement in grading between the 3 imaging methods was assessed by kappa coefficients (κ) and intraclass correlation coefficients.

RESULTS: The mean {\textpm} standard deviation area for images acquired with 25\% laser power and freely adjusted total sensitivity was 2.04 {\textpm} 1.87~mm(2) for definitely decreased autofluorescence (n~= 15) and 1.86 {\textpm} 2.14~mm(2) for poorly demarcated questionably decreased autofluorescence (n~= 12). The intraclass correlation coefficient (95\% confidence interval) was 0.964 (0.929, 0.999) for definitely decreased autofluorescence and 0.268 (0.000, 0.730) for poorly demarcated questionably decreased autofluorescence.

CONCLUSIONS: Short-wavelength reduced-illuminance and conventional fundus autofluorescence imaging showed good concordance in assessing areas of definitely decreased autofluorescence. However, there was significantly higher variability between imaging modalities for assessing areas~of poorly demarcated questionably decreased autofluorescence.

}, keywords = {Adult, Female, Fluorescein Angiography, Fundus Oculi, Humans, Macula Lutea, Macular Degeneration, Male, Middle Aged, Ophthalmoscopy, Optical Imaging, Reproducibility of Results, Stargardt Disease}, issn = {1879-1891}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajo.2016.06.003}, author = {Strauss, Rupert W and Mu{\~n}oz, Beatriz and Jha, Anamika and Ho, Alexander and Cideciyan, Artur V and Kasilian, Melissa L and Wolfson, Yulia and Sadda, SriniVas and West, Sheila and Scholl, Hendrik P N and Michaelides, Michel} }