The cardiac involvement in chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia: consideration on the Kearns-Sayre syndrome.

The report describes a case of Kearns syndrome in which cardiac involvement occurred more than 15 years after the appearance of the myopathic disorder. The surface electrocardiogram showed a left axis deviation and Q-waves in D3 and aVF leads, and appeared against a background of general systemic worsening of the condition of the muscular system. In the eye, despite a slightly increased salt-and-pepper macular pigmentary disturbance, retinal fluorescein angiography did not show significant differences in comparison with previous examinations. Some observations are made on the possible evolution of the Kearns syndrome.