Catastrophic presentation of mitochondrial disease due to a mutation in the tRNA(His) gene.

The authors describe a patient who presented with headache, seizures, and severe cerebral edema in whom they identified a novel mutation in the mitochondrial (mt-) tRNA(His) gene. This G12147A transition is heteroplasmic, predicted to disrupt a highly conserved base pair, and segregates with the cytochrome c oxidase deficiency in single muscle fibers.