Potential linkage of different phenotypic forms of childhood strabismus to a recessive susceptibility locus (16p13.12-p12.3).

Purpose: To perform linkage analysis on an inbred family with members who exhibit different phenotypic forms of childhood strabismus.

Methods: Prospective clinical examination and linkage analysis.

Results: three of the ten siblings and their cousin each had a different phenotypic form of childhood strabismus: infantile esotropia with convergence excess, esotropia associated with anisometropic amblyopia, unilateral esotropic Duane syndrome, and monocular elevation deficiency. Linkage analysis for the four strabismic individuals, an unaffected sibling, and the unaffected parents identified a single disease locus on chromosome 16p13.12-p12.3 (Ensembl cytogenetic band) with a 2.5 maximum logarithm of odds score. The region is 6 MB in size and comprises 80 genes.

Discussion: Linkage analysis in this unique family suggests that childhood strabismus can be recessive and that different phenotypic forms of childhood strabismus can share the same underlying genotype.