Danon disease is a multisystem condition with predominant involvement of the heart, skeletal muscles, and retina, with overlying cognitive dysfunction. Males are typically more severely affected than females. Males usually present with childhood onset concentric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that is progressive and often requires heart transplantation. Rarely, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can evolve to resemble dilated cardiomyopathy. Most affected males also have cardiac conduction abnormalities. Skeletal muscle weakness may lead to delayed acquisition of motor milestones. Learning disability and intellectual disability, most often in the mild range, are common. Additionally, affected males can develop retinopathy with subsequent visual impairment. The clinical features in females are broader and more variable. Females are more likely to have dilated cardiomyopathy, with a smaller proportion requiring heart transplantation compared to affected males. Cardiac conduction abnormalities, skeletal muscle weakness, mild cognitive impairment, and pigmentary retinopathy are variably seen in affected females.

Alpha-B crystallin-related myofibrillar myopathy is an autosomal dominant muscular disorder characterized by adult onset of progressive muscle weakness affecting both the proximal and distal muscles and associated with respiratory insufficiency, cardiomyopathy, and cataracts. There is phenotypic variability both within and between families (Fardeau et al., 1978; Selcen and Engel, 2003). A homozygous founder mutation in the CRYAB gene has been identified in Canadian aboriginal infants of Cree origin who have a severe fatal infantile hypertonic form of myofibrillar myopathy; see 613869. For a phenotypic description and a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of myofibrillar myopathy, see MFM1 (601419).

X-linked myopathy with excessive autophagy (XMEA) is an X-linked recessive skeletal muscle disorder characterized by childhood onset of progressive muscle weakness and atrophy primarily affecting the proximal muscles. While onset is usually in childhood, it can range from infancy to adulthood. Many patients lose ambulation and become wheelchair-bound. Other organ systems, including the heart, are clinically unaffected. Muscle biopsy shows intracytoplasmic autophagic vacuoles with sarcolemmal features and a multilayered basal membrane (summary by Ramachandran et al., 2013; Kurashige et al., 2013, and Ruggieri et al., 2015). Danon disease (300257), caused by mutation in the LAMP2 gene (309060) on chromosome Xq24, is a distinct disorder with similar pathologic features.

Muscular dystrophy, congenital hearing loss, and ovarian insufficiency syndrome (MDHLO) is an autosomal recessive systemic disorder characterized by progressive muscle weakness, sensorineural hearing loss, and endocrine abnormalities, mainly primary amenorrhea due to ovarian insufficiency. Features of the disorder appear soon after birth, although endocrine anomalies are not noted until puberty. The severity of the phenotype is variable: some patients may lose ambulation and have significant respiratory insufficiency, whereas others retain the ability to walk (Foley et al., 2020).