MELAS: a case report.

INTRODUCTION Mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) is a rare, neurodegenerative and fatal disease caused by mutations in the mitochondrial DNA. Multiple systems of the body, including the oral cavity, can be affected by this disease. An electronic search of Medline spanning the years 1985 to 2003 was carried out using the key words "MELAS, Dentistry." It yielded no literature on the dental aspects of MELAS. CLINICAL PICTURE This report documents the case of a 6-year-old Chinese boy diagnosed with MELAS and highlights problems encountered in the multidisciplinary management of MELAS patients, including its dental management. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME Dental management was successfully performed under general anaesthesia with close medical supervision by paediatrician and anaesthetist. CONCLUSIONS There is no known treatment of the underlying disease and the clinical course is usually unpredictable. Preventive dental care is important in this group of patients as concurrent medical conditions can complicate dental care.