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Symptoms of CMT usually begin in early childhood or early adulthood, but can begin later. Some people do not experience symptoms until their early thirties or forties. Usually, the initial symptom is foot drop early in the course of the disease. This can also cause hammer toe, where the toes are always curled. Wasting of muscle tissue of the lower parts of the legs may give rise to a "stork leg" or "inverted champagne bottle" appearance. Weakness in the hands and forearms occurs in many people as the disease progresses.
Loss of touch sensation in the feet, ankles and legs, as well as in the hands, wrists and arms occur with various types of the disease. Early and late onset forms occur with 'on and off' painful spasmodic muscular contractions that can be disabling when the disease activates. High-arched feet (pes cavus) or flat-arched feet (pes planus) are classically associated with the disorder. Sensory and proprioceptive nerves in the hands and feet are often damaged, while unmyelinated pain nerves are left intact. Overuse of an affected hand or limb can activate symptoms including numbness, spasm, and painful cramping.
Symptoms and progression of the disease can vary. Involuntary grinding of teeth as well as squinting are prevalent and often go unnoticed by the person affected. Breathing can be affected in some; so can hearing, vision, as well as the neck and shoulder muscles. Scoliosis is common, causing hunching and loss of height. Hip sockets can be malformed. Gastrointestinal problems can be part of CMT, as can difficulty chewing, swallowing, and speaking (due to atrophy of vocal cords). A tremor can develop as muscles waste. Pregnancy has been known to exacerbate CMT, as well as severe emotional stress. Patients with CMT must avoid periods of prolonged immobility such as when recovering from a secondary injury as prolonged periods of limited mobility can drastically accelerate symptoms of CMT.
Pain due to postural changes, skeletal deformations, muscle fatigue and cramping is fairly common in people with CMT. It can be mitigated or treated by physical therapies, surgeries, and corrective or assistive devices. Analgesic medications may also be needed if other therapies do not provide relief from pain. Neuropathic pain is often a symptom of CMT, though, like other symptoms of CMT, its presence and severity varies from case to case. For some people, pain can be significant to severe and interfere with daily life activities. However, pain is not experienced by all people with CMT. When neuropathic pain is present as a symptom of CMT, it is comparable to that seen in other peripheral neuropathies, as well as postherpetic neuralgia and complex regional pain syndrome, among other diseases.
Symptoms of the Roussy–Lévy syndrome mainly stem from nerve damage and the resulting progressive muscle atrophy. Neurological damage may result in absent tendon reflexes (areflexia), some distal sensory loss and decreased excitability of muscles to galvanic and faradic stimulation. Progressive muscle wasting results in weakness of distal limb muscles (especially the peronei), gait ataxia, pes cavus, postural tremors and static tremor of the upper limbs, kyphoscoliosis, and foot deformity.
These symptoms frequently translate into delayed onset of ability to walk, loss of coordination and balance, foot drop, and foot-bone deformities. They are usually first observed during infancy or early childhood, and slowly progress until about age 30, at which point progression may stop in some individuals, or symptoms may continue to slowly progress.
Onset occurs in infancy or early childhood, usually before 3 years of age. Progression is slow until the teenage years at which point it may accelerate, resulting in severe disability.
Symptoms are usually more severe and rapidly progressive than in the other more common Charcot–Marie–Tooth diseases. Some patients may never walk and solely use wheelchairs by the end of their first decade, while others may need only a cane (walking stick) or similar support through life.
Dejerine–Sottas disease is characterized by moderate to severe lower and upper extremity weakness and loss of sensation, which occur mainly in the lower legs, forearms, feet and hands. Loss of muscle mass and reduced muscle tone can occur as the disease progresses. Other symptoms may include pain in the extremities, curvature of the spine, clawed hands, foot deformities, ataxia, peripheral areflexia, and slow acquisition of motor skills in childhood. Symptoms that are less common can include limitation of eye movements, other eye problems such as nystagmus or anisocoria, or mild hearing loss.
In an individual with dHMN V, electromyography will show pure motor neuropathy, patterns of weakness without upper motor neuron damage, in the hands. Tendon reflexes will also appear normal. Clinical, electrophysiological, and pathological testing will show a lack of damage to sensory neurons, differentiating this disease from CMT.
Onset usually occurs within the first two decades of life, commonly in the teenage years or the twenties. Life expectancy is normal. High arch of the foot (pes cavus) is common. Patients also have trouble controlling their hands, due to muscle loss on the thumb side of the index finger and palm below the thumb. It is rare for a person with this disorder to lose the ability to walk, though changes in gait may occur later in life.
Frequency of this disorder is unknown.
People with ODD syndrome often have a characteristic appearance. Visible features of the condition include:
- small teeth that are prone to caries because of underdeveloped tooth enamel;
- a long, thin nose;
- unusually small eyes; and
- type III syndactyly of the fourth and fifth fingers.
Iris atrophy and glaucoma are more common than average. The size of the eyes often interferes with learning to read; special eyeglasses may be required. Hair may be fine, thin, dry, or fragile; in some families, it is curly.
Neurologic abnormalities may be seen in adults. The neurologic changes may appear earlier in each subsequent generation and can include abnormal white matter, conductive deafness, and various kinds of paresis, including ataxia, spastic paraplegia, difficulty controlling the eyes, and bladder and bowel disturbances.
Roussy–Lévy syndrome, also known as Roussy–Lévy hereditary areflexic dystasia, is a rare genetic disorder of humans that results in progressive muscle wasting. It is caused by mutations in the genes that code for proteins necessary for the functioning of the myelin sheath of the neurons, affecting the conductance of nerve signals and resulting in loss of muscles' ability to move.
The condition affects people from infants through adults and is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. Currently, no cure is known for the disorder.
Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease (CMT) is one of the hereditary motor and sensory neuropathies, a group of varied inherited disorders of the peripheral nervous system characterized by progressive loss of muscle tissue and touch sensation across various parts of the body. Currently incurable, this disease is the most commonly inherited neurological disorder, and affects approximately 1 in 2,500 people. CMT was previously classified as a subtype of muscular dystrophy.
Symptoms of otodental syndrome can and usually appear in early development and progress with age. Although the specific frequency of the symptoms is not known, the duration is recognized to be for life; assuming no treatment has been undergone. The symptoms are variable to each individual, can range greatly in severity and are dependent on gene expression.
More severe symptoms include:
- Globodontia – an abnormal condition that can occur in both primary and secondary tooth development, in which the molars and canines are greatly enlarged. It refers to the enlarged bulbous fused malformed posterior teeth with almost no discernible cusps or grooves. The molars are known to have a rounded globe-like shape. Can attribute to pain.
- Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) – also known as nerve related hearing loss, is a form of hearing loss associated with complications within the inner ear.
- Taurodontism – known as a condition in which the body of a tooth is enlarged at the expense of the roots. This results in an enlarged pulp chamber, lack of proper bonding at the cementoenamel junction, and can cause the pulpal floor to be displaced towards the root. Discomfort and pain are usually associated with these characteristics.
- Endodontic-Periodontic lesions – oral lesions that can potentially form into abscesses. May cause further soreness and pain.
Other possible, less severe, symptoms involve:
- Absent premolars – individuals suffering from otodental syndrome will typically lack the ability to develop premolars due to its genetic related affects.
- Ocular coloboma – an existent hole within the eye of the individual. The hole can be present in either the iris, choroid, optic disc, or retina and is acquired during early/prenatal development. Individuals with these symptoms may exhibit sensitivity to light, blurred vision, and/or blind spots; depending on the size of the missing tissue and its location in the eye.
Males show more serious symptoms than females affected by this disorder.
The symptoms for males are:
1. Profound sensorineural hearing loss i.e, a complete or almost complete loss of hearing caused by abnormalities in the inner ear.
2. Weak muscle tone - Hypotonia.
3. Impaired muscle coordination - Ataxia.
4. Developmental delay.
5. Intellecual disability.
6. Vision loss caused by optic nerve atrophy in early childhood.
7. Peripheral neuropathy.
8. Recurrent infections, especially in the respiratory system.
9. Muscle weakness caused by recurrent infections.
Symptoms for females:
Very rarely seen hearing loss that begins in adulthood (age > 20 years) combined with ataxia and neuropathy. Optic atrophy and retinitis pigmentosa observed in some cases too.
Dejerine–Sottas disease, also known as Dejerine–Sottas syndrome, Dejerine–Sottas neuropathy, progressive hypertrophic interstitial polyneuropathy of childhood and onion bulb neuropathy (and, "hereditary motor and sensory polyneuropathy type III" and "Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease type 3"), is a hereditary neurological disorder characterised by damage to the peripheral nerves and resulting progressive muscle wasting. The condition is caused by mutations in a various genes and currently has no known cure.
The disorder is named for Joseph Jules Dejerine and Jules Sottas, French neurologists who first described it.
The incidence of this condition is <1 per million population. It is found only in females as all affected males die before birth. Teeth with large roots (radiculomegaly), heart defects, and small eyes (microphthalmia) are the characteristic triad found in this syndrome.
Typical features of the condition include:
- Face
- Deep set eyes
- Broad nasal tip divided by a cleft
- Eyes
- Microphthalmia (small eyes)
- Early cataracts
- Glaucoma
- Teeth
- Radiculomegaly (teeth with very large roots)
- Delayed loss of primary teeth
- Missing (oligodontia) or abnormally small teeth
- Misaligned teeth
- Defective tooth enamel.
- Heart defects
- Atrial and/or ventricular defects
- Mitral valve prolapse
- Mild mental retardation and conductive or sensorineural hearing loss may occur.
Five different clinical entities have been described under hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies – all characterized by progressive loss of function that predominantly affects the peripheral sensory nerves. Their incidence has been estimated to be about 1 in 25,000.
Oculodentodigital syndrome (ODD syndrome) is an extremely rare genetic condition that typically results in small eyes, underdeveloped teeth, and syndactyly and malformation of the fourth and fifth fingers. It has also been called oculo-dento-digital syndrome, oculodentodigital dysplasia (ODDD), and oculodentoosseous dysplasia (ODOD). It is considered a kind of ectodermal dysplasia.
Spinal muscular atrophy with lower extremity predominance (SMA-LED) is an extremely rare neuromuscular disorder of infants characterised by severe progressive muscle atrophy which is especially prominent in legs.
The disorder is associated with a genetic mutation in the "DYNC1H1" gene (the gene responsible also for one of the axonal types of Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease) and is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. As with many genetic disorders, there is no known cure to SMA-LED.
The condition was first described in a multi-generational family by Walter Timme in 1917. Its linkage to the "DYNC1H1" gene was discovered in 2010 by M. B. Harms, et al., who also proposed the current name of the disorder.
The three most common symptoms of Opitz G/BBB syndrome (both type I & II) are hypertelorism (exceptionally wide-spaced eyes), laryngo-tracheo-esophalgeal defects (including clefts and holes in the palate, larynx, trachea and esophagus) and hypospadias (urinary openings in males not at the tip of the penis) (Meroni, Opitz G/BBB syndrome, 2012). Abnormalities in the larynx, trachea and esophagus can cause significant difficulty breathing and/or swallowing and can result in reoccurring pneumonia and life-threatening situations. Commonly, there may be a gap between the trachea and esophagus, referred to as a laryngeal cleft; which can allow food or fluid to enter the airway and make breathing and eating a difficult task.
Genital abnormalities like a urinary opening under the penis (hypospadias), undescended testes (cryptorchidism), underdeveloped scrotum and a scrotum divided into two lobes (bifid scrotum) can all be commonplace for males with the disease.
Developmental delays of the brain and nervous system are also common in both types I and II of the disease. 50% of people with Opitz G/BBB Syndrome will experience developmental delay and mild intellectual disability. This can impact motor skills, speech and learning capabilities. Some of these instances are likened to autistic spectrum disorders. Close to half of the people with Opitz G/BBB Syndrome also have a cleft lip (hole in the lip opening) and possibly a cleft palate (hole in the roof of the mouth), as well. Less than half of the people diagnosed have heart defects, imperforate anus (obstructed anal opening), and brain defects. Of all the impairments, female carriers of X-linked Type I Opitz G/BBB Syndrome usually only have ocular hypertelorism.
Neuropathy disorders usually have onset in childhood or young adulthood. Motor symptoms seem to be more predominant that sensory symptoms. Symptoms of these disorders include: fatigue, pain, lack of balance, lack of feeling, lack of reflexes, and lack of sight and hearing, which result from muscle atrophy. Patients can also suffer from high arched feet, hammer toes, foot drop, foot deformities, and scoliosis. These symptoms are a result of severe muscular weakness and atrophy. In patients suffering from demyelinating neuropathy, symptoms are due to slow nerve conduction velocities, however people with axonal degradation have average to normal nerve conduction velocities.
Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy (HSAN) or hereditary sensory neuropathy (HSN) is a condition used to describe any of the types of this disease which inhibit sensation.
They are less common than Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
Theoretically, a mutation in any of the may cause disease, but below are some notable ones, with short description of symptoms:
- Adrenoleukodystrophy; leads to progressive brain damage, failure of the adrenal glands and eventually death.
- Alport syndrome; glomerulonephritis, endstage kidney disease, and hearing loss.
- Androgen insensitivity syndrome; variable degrees of undervirilization and/or infertility in XY persons of either gender
- Barth syndrome; metabolism distortion, delayed motor skills, stamina deficiency, hypotonia, chronic fatigue, delayed growth, cardiomyopathy, and compromised immune system.
- Blue cone monochromacy; low vision acuity, color blindness, photophobia, infantile nystagmus.
- Centronuclear myopathy; where cell nuclei are abnormally located in skeletal muscle cells. In CNM the nuclei are located at a position in the center of the cell, instead of their normal location at the periphery.
- Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease (CMTX2-3); disorder of nerves (neuropathy) that is characterized by loss of muscle tissue and touch sensation, predominantly in the feet and legs but also in the hands and arms in the advanced stages of disease.
- Coffin–Lowry syndrome; severe mental retardation sometimes associated with abnormalities of growth, cardiac abnormalities, kyphoscoliosis as well as auditory and visual abnormalities.
- Fabry disease; A lysosomal storage disease causing anhidrosis, fatigue, angiokeratomas, burning extremity pain and ocular involvement.
- Hunter's Syndrome; potentially causing hearing loss, thickening of the heart valves leading to a decline in cardiac function, obstructive airway disease, sleep apnea, and enlargement of the liver and spleen.
- Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, presenting with hypohidrosis, hypotrichosis, hypodontia
- Kabuki syndrome; multiple congenital anomalies and mental retardation.
- Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy; muscle cramps and progressive weakness
- Lesch-Nyhan syndrome; neurologic dysfunction, cognitive and behavioral disturbances including self-mutilation, and uric acid overproduction (hyperuricemia)
- Lowe Syndrome; hydrophthalmia, cataracts, intellectual disabilities, aminoaciduria, reduced renal ammonia production and vitamin D-resistant rickets
- Menkes disease; sparse and coarse hair, growth failure, and deterioration of the nervous system
- Nasodigitoacoustic syndrome; mishaped nose, brachydactyly of the distal phalanges, sensorineural deafness
- Nonsyndromic deafness; hearing loss
- Norrie disease; cataracts, leukocoria along with other developmental issues in the eye
- Occipital horn syndrome; deformations in the skeleton
- Ocular albinism; lack of pigmentation in the eye
- Ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency; developmental delay and mental retardation. Progressive liver damage, skin lesions, and brittle hair may also be seen
- Siderius X-linked mental retardation syndrome; cleft lip and palate with mental retardation and facial dysmorphism, caused by mutations in the histone demethylase PHF8
- Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome; coarse faces with protruding jaw and tongue, widened nasal bridge, and upturned nasal tip
- Spinal muscular atrophy caused by UBE1 gene mutation; weakness due to loss of the motor neurons of the spinal cord and brainstem
- Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome; eczema, thrombocytopenia, immune deficiency, and bloody diarrhea
- X-linked Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID); infections, usually causing death in the first years of life
- X-linked sideroblastic anemia; skin paleness, fatigue, dizziness and enlarged spleen and liver.
Acro–dermato–ungual–lacrimal–tooth (ADULT) syndrome is a rare genetic disease. ADULT syndrome is an autosomal dominant form of ectodermal dysplasia, a group of disorders that affects the hair, teeth, nails, sweat glands, and extremities. The syndrome arises from a mutation in the TP63 gene. This disease was previously thought to be a form of ectrodactyly–ectodermal dysplasia–cleft syndrome (EEC), but was classified as a different disease in 1993 by Propping and Zerres.
There may or may not be any evidence of history of HGF in the family nor any usage of taking long-term medicines for any particular disease when it comes to diagnosing HGF. There also may or may not be any signs of medical and/or family history of mental retardation, hypertrichosis, nor clinical symptoms that can be associated with gingival enlargement. Although, enlargement of gingiva, interdental papilla, hindered speech, and secondary inflammatory changes taking place in the mouth commonly at the marginal gingiva are all very indicative of this condition. Commonly the patient will have mandiblular and maxilliary inflammation and overgrowth as opposed to the traditional pink, firm, and fleshy consistency of healthy gingiva. The patient's jaw may also appear distorted because of the gingiva englargements. Overgrowth of the gingiva can range from slightly covering the surface of teeth or it can even completely cover the surrounding teeth. The patient can also experience damage or loss of teeth.
Arts syndrome is a rare metabolic disorder that causes serious neurological problems in males due to a malfunction of the PRPP synthetase 1 enzyme. Arts Syndrome is part of a spectrum of PRPS-1 related disorders with reduced activity of the enzyme that includes Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease and X-linked non-syndromic sensorineural deafness.
X-linked type I Opitz G/BBB Syndrome is diagnosed on clinical findings, but those findings can vary greatly: even within the same family. Manifestations of X-linked type I are classified in the frequent/major findings and minor findings that are found in less than 50% of individuals.
The three major findings that suggest a person has X-linked Type I Opitz G/BBB Syndrome:
1. Ocular hypertelorism (~100% cases)
2. Hypospadias (85-90% cases)
3. Laryngotracheoesophageal abnormalities (60-70%)
Minor findings found in less than 50% of individuals:
1. Developmental delay (especially intellectually)
2. Cleft lip/palate
3. Congenital heart defects
4. Imperforate (blocked) anus
5. Brain defects (especially corpus callosum)
In 1989, Hogdall used ultrasonographs to diagnose X-linked Type I Opitz G/BBB Syndrome after 19 weeks of pregnancy, by identifying hypertelorism (widely-spaced eyes) and hypospadias (irregular urinary tract openings in the penis).
There is also molecular genetic testing available to identify mutations leading to Opitz G/BBB Syndrome. X-linked Type I testing must be done on MID1, since this is the only gene that is known to cause Type I Opitz G/BBB Syndrome. Two different tests can be performed: sequence analysis and deletion/duplication analysis. In the sequence analysis a positive result would detect 15-50% of the DNA sequence mutated, while a deletion/duplication positive result would find deletion or duplication of one or more exons of the entire MID1 gene.
Cooks syndrome is a hereditary disorder which is characterized in the hands by bilateral nail hypoplasia on the thumb, index finger, and middle finger, absence of fingernails (anonychia) on the ring finger and little finger, lengthening of the thumbs, and bulbousness of the fingers. In the feet, it is characterized by absence of toenails and absence/hypoplasia of the distal phalanges. In the second study of this disorder, it was found that the intermediate phalanges, proximal phalanges, and metacarpals were unaffected.
The disorder was first described by Cooks "et al." in 1985 after being discovered in two generations of one family. It was proposed that the inheritance of the disorder is autosomal dominant. A second family, this with three affected generations, confirmed that the inheritance of the disorder is autosomal dominant. Although several genetic disorders exist which can cause anonychia and onychodystrophy, such disorders often cause other anomalies such as deafness, mental retardation, and defects of the hair, eyes, and teeth. Cooks syndrome is not known to cause any such anomalies.
In 1999, a pair of siblings was found with brachydactyly type B. Because the disorder primarily affected the nails and distal phalanges, the research group concluded that brachydactyly type B and Cooks syndrome are the same disorder. However, in 2007, a 2-year-old girl was found with symptoms consistent with both brachydactyly type B and Cooks syndrome. It was found that the two syndromes were distinct clinically, radiologically, and genetically.
ADULT syndrome features include ectrodactyly, syndactyly, excessive freckling, lacrimal duct anomalies, dysplastic nails, hypodontia, hypoplastic breasts and nipples, hypotrichosis, hypohidrosis, broad nasal bridge, midfacial hypoplasia, exfoliative dermatitis, and xerosis. The lack of facial clefting and ankyloblepharon are important because they exist in ectrodactyly–ectodermal dysplasia–cleft syndrome (EEC) but not in ADULT syndrome.