Novel ophthalmic findings and deep phenotyping in Williams-Beuren syndrome

Background/Aims To characterise the ocular manifestations of Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) and compare these to patients with isolated elastin mediated supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS). Methods Fifty-seven patients with a diagnosis of WBS and five with SVAS underwent comprehensive ophthalmic evaluation at the National Institutes of Health from 2017 to 2020, including best-corrected visual acuity, slit-lamp biomicroscopy, optical biometry, dilated fundus examination, optical coherence tomography and colour fundus imaging. Results Mean age of the 57 WBS patients was 20.3 years (range 3-60 years). Best-corrected visual acuity ranged from 20/20 to 20/400 with mean spherical equivalent near plano OU. Twenty-four eyes (21.8%) had an axial length (AL) less than 20.5 mm and 38 eyes (34.5%) had an AL measuring 20.5-22.0 mm. Stellate iris and retinal arteriolar tortuosity were noted in 30 (52.6%) and 51 (89.5%) WBS patients, respectively. Novel retinal findings in WBS included small hypopigmented retinal deposits (OD 29/57, OS 27/57) and broad foveal pit contour (OD 44/55, OS 42/51). Of the five patients with SVAS, none had stellate iris or broad foveal pit contour while 2/5 had retinal arteriolar tortuosity. Conclusion WBS is a complex multisystem genetic disorder with diverse ophthalmic findings that differ from those seen in isolated elastin mediated SVAS. These results suggest other genes within the WBS critical region, aside from ELN, may be involved in observed ocular phenotypes and perhaps broader ocular development. Furthermore, retinal arteriolar tortuosity may provide future insight into systemic vascular findings in WBS.

Automated summary

This study compared the ocular manifestations between Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) and isolated elastin mediated supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS) patients. Different ocular findings were observed in WBS patients, including stellate iris, retinal arteriolar tortuosity, small hypopigmented retinal deposits, and broad foveal pit contour. These results suggest the involvement of other genes within the WBS critical region in ocular phenotypes and development.