Rippling muscle disease and cardiomyopathy associated with a mutation in the CAV3 gene.

Michela Catteruccia, Tommaso Sanna, Filippo Maria Santorelli, Alessandra Tessa, Raffaella Di Giacopo, Donato Sauchelli, Alessandro Verbo, Mauro Lo Monaco, Serenella Servidei

Department of Neuroscience, Institute of Neurology, Catholic University, Largo Agostino Gemelli 8, 00168 Rome, Italy.

Neuromuscular disorders : NMD 2009 Nov

filter terms:

Caveolin-3, the myocyte-specific isoform of caveolins, is preferentially expressed in skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscles. Mutations in the CAV3 gene cause clinically heterogeneous neuromuscular disorders, including rippling muscle disease, or cardiopathies. The same mutation may lead to different phenotypes, but cardiac and muscle involvement rarely coexists suggesting that the molecular network acting with caveolin-3 in skeletal muscle and heart may differ. Here we describe an Italian family (a father and his two sons) with clinical and neurophysiological features of rippling muscle disease and heart involvement characterized by atrio-ventricular conduction defects and dilated cardiomyopathy. Muscle biopsy showed loss of caveolin-3 immunosignal. Molecular studies identified the p.A46V mutation in CAV3 previously reported in a German family with autosomal dominant rippling muscle disease and sudden death in few individuals. We suggest that cardiac dysfunction in myopathic patients with CAV3 mutations may be underestimated and recommend a more thorough evaluation for the presence of cardiomyopathy and potentially lethal arrhythmias.

Citation

Michela Catteruccia, Tommaso Sanna, Filippo Maria Santorelli, Alessandra Tessa, Raffaella Di Giacopo, Donato Sauchelli, Alessandro Verbo, Mauro Lo Monaco, Serenella Servidei. Rippling muscle disease and cardiomyopathy associated with a mutation in the CAV3 gene. Neuromuscular disorders : NMD. 2009 Nov;19(11):779-83