Clinical Description
Thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anemia syndrome (TRMA) is characterized by the triad of megaloblastic anemia, progressive sensorineural hearing loss, and diabetes mellitus. To date, more than 183 individuals from more than 138 families have been identified [Ortigoza-Escobar et al 2016, Habeb et al 2018, Zhang et al 2021].
Table 2.
Thiamine-Responsive Megaloblastic Anemia Syndrome: Frequency of Select Features
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Feature | % of Persons w/Feature | Comment |
---|
Megaloblastic anemia
| 60%-70% | Anemia is present in >90% of persons. |
Progressive sensorineural deafness
| >90% | |
Non-type I diabetes mellitus
| >90% | |
Ophthalmologic manifestations
| 20%-30% | Incl optic atrophy |
Cardiovascular abnormalities
| 20%-30% | |
Neurologic manifestations
| 20%-40% | |
Thrombocytopenia
| 10%-30% | |
Megaloblastic anemia. The earliest findings of significant bone marrow problems have been in the first year of life and the latest in the teenage years. Peripheral blood count shows a pattern of macrocytic anemia with low hemoglobin and high mean corpuscular volume (MCV) in the absence of deficiencies of folate or vitamin B12. Bone marrow shows dysplastic hematopoiesis with numerous megaloblasts. The anemia is corrected with pharmacologic doses of thiamine (vitamin B1) (50-100 mg/day). However, the red cells remain macrocytic, suggesting a persistent erythropoietic abnormality [Haworth et al 1982, Neufeld et al 1997, Setoodeh et al 2013]; anemia can recur if thiamine therapy is discontinued.
Additional hematologic abnormalities such as thrombocytopenia and neutropenia may be present together with anemia. They can be corrected with pharmacologic doses of thiamine (vitamin B1) (50-100 mg/day).
Progressive sensorineural deafness. Hearing defects may be present at an early age and in some families may be present at birth [Setoodeh et al 2013]. Progressive sensorineural hearing loss is irreversible and may not be prevented by thiamine treatment. The basis of the sensorineural deafness is obscure; it is not known if the deafness is caused by abnormalities of the cochlea or of the auditory nerve. However, animal studies suggest that selective inner hair cell loss in the cochlea could be the cause of hearing defects in TRMA [Liberman et al 2006].
Non-type I diabetes mellitus has appeared before school age in many (though not all) individuals with glycosuria and hyperglycemia. Diabetic ketoacidosis has been reported in 15% of individuals [Zhang et al 2021]. Initially, affected individuals respond to oral hypoglycemic agents, but most eventually become insulin dependent.
Ophthalmologic manifestations including optic atrophy, when commented on in case reports, appears common. Abnormal appearance of the retina and functional retinal dystrophy have been reported [Meire et al 2000, Kipioti et al 2003, Lagarde et al 2004]. The kindred reported as having DIDMOAD (diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus, optic atrophy, and deafness) by Borgna-Pignatti et al [1989] has in retrospect been shown by genetic analysis to have TRMA. Also, Wu et al [2022] reported an individual with Leber congenital amaurosis who was later found to have molecularly confirmed TRMA.
Cardiovascular abnormalities including sudden death, stroke, high-output heart failure, arrhythmias, atrial standstill, and congenital heart defects such as atrial septal defect or ventricular septal defect have been reported in 20%-30% of individuals with TRMA [Habeb et al 2018, Zhang et al 2021].
Significant neurologic deficits such as stroke, epilepsy, mood disorder, developmental delay, and intellectual disability have been reported during early childhood in 20%-40% of individuals with TRMA [Habeb et al 2018, Zhang et al 2021].
Prevalence
Approximately 130 pedigrees are known. TRMA is exceedingly rare outside of consanguineous families or isolated populations. Affected individuals have been observed in various ethnicities including Israeli Arab and Lebanese populations, an Alaskan kindred of native and ethnic Russian descent, and kindreds from Brazil, Japan, Oman, Tunisia, Italy (Venetian and other), Iran, India, and Pakistan, as well as Kashmiri families in Great Britain, ethnic Kurds, persons of northern European heritage, and African Americans [Ortigoza-Escobar et al 2016, Habeb et al 2018, Zhang et al 2021].