Multi-minicore Disease (MmD) is a recessively inherited neuromuscular disorder characterized by multiple cores on muscle biopsy and clinical features of a congenital
myopathy. Prevalence is unknown. Marked clinical variability corresponds to genetic heterogeneity: the most instantly recognizable classic phenotype characterized by spinal rigidity, early
scoliosis and respiratory impairment is due to recessive mutations in the
selenoprotein N (SEPN1) gene, whereas recessive mutations in the skeletal muscle
ryanodine receptor (
RYR1) gene have been associated with a wider range of clinical features comprising
external ophthalmoplegia, distal weakness and wasting or predominant hip girdle involvement resembling
central core disease (CCD). In the latter forms, there may also be a histopathologic continuum with CCD due to dominant
RYR1 mutations, reflecting the common genetic background. Pathogenetic mechanisms of RYR1-related MmD are currently not well understood, but likely to involve altered excitability and/or changes in
calcium homeoestasis;
calcium-binding motifs within the
selenoprotein N
protein also suggest a possible role in
calcium handling. The diagnosis of MmD is based on the presence of suggestive clinical features and multiple cores on muscle biopsy; muscle MRI may aid genetic testing as patterns of selective muscle involvement are distinct depending on the genetic background. Mutational analysis of the
RYR1 or the SEPN1 gene may provide genetic confirmation of the diagnosis. Management is mainly supportive and has to address the risk of marked respiratory impairment in SEPN1-related MmD and the possibility of
malignant hyperthermia susceptibility in RYR1-related forms. In the majority of patients, weakness is static or only slowly progressive, with the degree of respiratory impairment being the most important prognostic factor.