Segregation and linkage analyses of von Hippel Lindau disease among 220 descendants from one kindred

Abstract

Von Hippel Lindau disease (vHL), an autosomal dominant precancerous condition, had segregated in a large kindred. Fourteen relatives were known to have been affected; record reviews disclosed features of vHL in 15 previously undiagnosed relatives; presymptomatic evaluations detected vHL in 13 additional members of this kindred. Altogether, among 220 descendants of an ancestral couple, 41 had vHL. We screened for HLA haplotypes and for polymorphic gene markers at 31 loci in 102 direct descendants and 16 spouses from this kindred, including 23 with vHL. Linkage analyses failed to reveal a significant lod score with any locus tested, or any HLA linkage disequilibrium. Expression of vHL among the affected relatives was compared with 384 other reported cases of vHL. The age of onset, tissue involvement, and life expectancy in this family were similar to the other reported cases. The sigmoid age-of-onset distribution for vHL most closely matched a square-foot transformation (mean = 26.2(-2) years; variance = 1.224).