Assessment of the quality of life in patients with LGMD. The case of transportinopathy.

Abstract

The Quality of Life (QOL) is influenced by several disease-related factors, support, resources, expectations, and aspirations, within the disease-related concepts. The Individualized Neuromuscular Quality of Life (INQoL) is a validated muscle disease-specific measure of the QoL developed from the experiences of patients with muscle disease and can be used for people or large cohorts. This review of QoL in transportinopathy cases reports adjustments in an autosomal dominant (AD) LGMD, and a comparison is made with autosomal recessive (AR) LGMD evaluated by INQoL. The locus for this form of LGMD with AD inheritance was found on chromosome 7, and then identification of the gene and its encoded protein (transportin-3) was obtained in 2013. A large three-generation family with several branches in Spain and Italy was previously reported and described in detail. Some patients had an early onset weakness, but others had an adult onset of the disease, as late as 58 years. The severity of the appearance of the phenotype is correlated with QoL and progresses with age. Assessing the impact on their QoL is particularly relevant to know whether the treatment is reducing their suffering.