A genetic study of the Fukuyama type congenital muscular dystrophy.

A genetic study was carried out on 153 families with 186 Fukuyama type congenital progressive muscular dystrophy (FCMD) patients. Consanguineous marriage of parents was found in 41 families (26.80%). Inbreeding coefficients in the patients was 10 times as high as that of the general population. Both sexes were almost equally affected (M:F = 1.1:1.0). No single parent of the patients was affected. Recurrence among siblings was frequent (9 out of 41 siblings in offspring of related parents and 18 out of 110 siblings in offspring of unrelated parents were affected. The segregation ratio was 23.91-27.08% in offspring of related parents, 20.00-22.94% in offspring of unrelated parents, these values being not significantly different from the 25% expected from the assumption of autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. In the sample two twin pairs were included, of which one male isosexual pair was concordant. Sporadic cases were not significantly more numerous than expected. All these data indicate that the disorder is caused by homozygosity of an autosomal recessive gene. Frequency of the gene was estimated to be 5.2-9.7 X 10(-3) and frequency of the patients 6.9-11.9 X 10(-5). Mutation rate was estimated to be 6.9-11.9 X 10(-5).