Dr. Mark S Korson, MD

Exceptional doctor who helped diagnosed my son with mito disorder

My youngest child had been misdiagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, and was finally correctly diagnosed with Leigh's Disease, which is a severe and fatal form of maternally inherited Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathy. Sadly, HG passed away, but received excellent, compassionate care at Tufts for her entire life. Dr.Korson saved my life, as well. When HG was initially diagnosed, genetic testing was not as advanced as it is now, ten years later. Despite this, Dr.Korson observed me while I was experiencing what had been diagnosed as "relapsing remitting Multiple Sclerosis" nearly two decades before, and recognized it as a form of maternally inherited mitochondrial myopathy, which was confirmed with genetic testing. My medical treatment was changed, and my quality of life has improved significantly. Dr. Korson is a skilled, compassionate practitioner Ina field that is changing rapidly. The field of genetics and metabolism is seriously understaffed, and there are only a handful of practitioners in the US who are accepting new patients, especially adult patients. An initial appointment with Dr. Korson generally takes two or more hours, and patients have reported waiting over twelve months to schedule an initial consultation. Other specialists have waiting lists that are over two years in length, so Dr. Korson's scheduling delay is not unusual for other specialists in the field. While my daughter received excellent care at Tufts when admitted under Dr. Korson's service, I must caution adult patients who require inpatient hospital treatment related to a Mito diagnosis; Dr. Korson is a pediatric genetic specialist who accepts adult clinic patients. He does not have admitting privileges for adult patients, and his inpatient medical consultation is considered "unofficial", and therefore can be (and is often) ignored, if he is permitted to consult at all. I was unaware of this and was admitted to Tufts, treated for an "MS exacerbation" even though genetic testing had already established the Mitochondrial Myopathy diagnosis, and ended up being treated with an antibiotic that caused permanent deafness. A simple review of my genetic testing would have shown the genetic defect that made me susceptible to hearing loss from aminoglycoside antibiotics (related to Mito, not MS), but my genetic-metabolic records were never reviewed and Dr. Korson was never consulted. When I requested that he be permitted to participate in my care, my request was denied. Since then, I have assembled a health care team that consults Dr. Korson regularly and follows all of his recommendations. Obviously, my team is NOT based at Tufts.

He is caring, organized, and gives great recommendations. I would recommend him!