Background: Persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can have restrictive diets due to stereotyped behaviors. These restrictive diets can manifest with nutritional deficiencies, such as Vitamin A deficiency. The most frequent manifestation of hypovitaminosis A is vision loss secondary to xerophthalmia. Here the authors report six cases of males with a clinical triad of hypovitaminosis A, cranial hyperostosis, and optic neuropathy.
Methods: A retrospective case series of six males (ages 5-17 years old) with ASD who presented with several weeks of vision loss and nyctalopia were reviewed.
Results: All six subjects were found to have a barely detectable Vitamin A level (<10 mcg/dL). Three of the six cases had elevated protein (45.9-74.0 mg/dL) in their CSF. MRI imaging demonstrated mild T2 enhancement of bilateral optic nerve sheaths and CT showed diffuse skull hypertrophy. Upon further history collection, all subjects had a very limited food repertoire with major nutritional deficiencies. Subjects were prescribed high doses of vitamin A and most were noted to have improved vision at follow-up, and all had resolution of imaging abnormalities on repeat scans. No common genetic variant was identified in patients with expanded genetic sequencing.
Conclusions: We present a clinical triad of hypovitaminosis A, cranial hyperostosis, and optic neuropathy in six males with ASD. Skull abnormalities and xeropthalmia likely contributed to the development of vision loss.
Keywords: Vitamin A deficiency; autism spectrum disorders; hyperostosis; nutrition; nyctylopia; optic neuropathy; restrictive diets; xeropthalmia.