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. 2022 Jun;37(7):652-663.
doi: 10.1177/08830738221096316. Epub 2022 Jun 7.

Pediatric Nemaline Myopathy: A Systematic Review Using Individual Patient Data

Briana Christophers  1 , Michael A Lopez  2 , Vandana A Gupta  3 , Hannes Vogel  4 , Mary Baylies  1   5
Affiliations

Pediatric Nemaline Myopathy: A Systematic Review Using Individual Patient Data

Briana Christophers et al. J Child Neurol. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Nemaline myopathy is a skeletal muscle disease that affects 1 in 50 000 live births. The objective of this study was to develop a narrative synthesis of the findings of a systematic review of the latest case descriptions of patients with NM. A systematic search of MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus was performed using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines using the keywords pediatric, child, NM, nemaline rod, and rod myopathy. Case studies focused on pediatric NM and published in English between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2020, in order to represent the most recent findings. Information was collected about the age of first signs, earliest presenting neuromuscular signs and symptoms, systems affected, progression, death, pathologic description, and genetic changes. Of a total of 385 records, 55 case reports or series were reviewed, covering 101 pediatric patients from 23 countries. We review varying presentations in children ranging in severity despite being caused by the same mutation, in addition to current and future clinical considerations relevant to the care of patients with NM. This review synthesizes genetic, histopathologic, and disease presentation findings from pediatric NM case reports. These data strengthen our understanding of the wide spectrum of disease seen in NM. Future studies are needed to identify the underlying molecular mechanism of pathology, to improve diagnostics, and to develop better methods to improve the quality of life for these patients.

Keywords: muscle; myopathy; nemaline myopathy; sarcomere.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Pathologic findings in NM. Light microscopy of Gomori trichrome-stained muscle biopsy shows nemaline bodies within various fibers (left, cross-section). Electron-dense rods disrupt sarcomeric organization in the muscle (right, longitudinal section). Arrows highlight some of the present nemaline rods/bodies.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Sarcomere-related proteins causative of NM. Created with BioRender.com.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Study selection process using PRISMA flow diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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