A case of polyglucosan body myopathy caused by an RBCK1 gene variant and literature review

Objective To analyze the clinical and genetic characteristics of a patient with Polyglucosan body myopathy 1 (PGBM1) caused by a novel compound heterozygous variant in the RBCK1 gene. Methods The clinical data of the patient were collected, next-generation sequencing technology was used to determine the exome sequence of the patient, and the suspected pathogenic locus was verified by Sanger sequencing. Results Through whole-exome sequencing, we found that there were c.919G>T; p. (Glu307*) and c.723_730dup; p. (Glu244fs) variants of the RBCK1 gene in the patient, inherited from his parents, constituting a compound heterozygous variation. According to the guidelines of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), the two variants were rated as pathogenic, but there were no comparable cases. Previous literature reported 24 patients with RBCK1 gene variants, involving a total of 20 myocardial and 18 skeletal muscle cases. Conclusions The patient was twice diagnosed with cardiac insufficiency, neglecting the usual manifestations of muscle weakness, resulting in misdiagnosis. Later, novel variants in the RBCK1 gene were discovered through whole-exome sequencing, and symptomatic treatment was given after diagnosis. The importance of whole-exome sequencing technology in disease diagnosis and genetic counseling was emphasized.