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Von Hippel-Lindau Disease

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Von Hippel-Lindau disease is a rare autosomal dominant condition. VHL is caused by point mutations or deletions in the VHL tumor suppressor gene. VHL is characterized by development of specific benign and malignant tumors.
A German ophthalmilogist, Dr. Eugen von Hippel, described the hemangioblastomas in the eye in 1893–1911. Swedish pathologist, Dr. Arvid Lindau was the first one to described the hemangioblastomas

Those with a mutated gene have significantly increased risk of developing hemangioblastomas, which are blood vessel tumors of the brain, spinal cord, eye which are called retinal angiomas, clear cell renal cell carcinoma, which is a specific type of kidney cancer; and pheochromocytoma, which is a tumor of the adrenal gland. Kidney cysts, which are closed sacs usually filled with fluid; pancreatic cysts, epididymal cystadenomas, and endolymphatic sac tumors, which are tumors of the ear that may cause hearing loss; are also features of VHL [1].
This rare disease has an incidence of 1 in 36,000 live births [1] worldwide and a very high penetrance rate of more than 90% of mutation carriers by the age of 65 years. Causative gene VHL (NCBI Genebank gene ID: 608537), was located at Chr 3p25.3 and was found by positional cloning techniques in …show more content…

Hence it is very important to carry out mutation studies in families with history of such tumor combinations to detect the presence of mutation in VHL gene. It is more important to check for family specific mutations in the asymptomatic at-risk family members of affected patients. Early detection, regular monitoring and appropriate treatment can lessen the harmful consequences of this

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