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Symptoms of M2DS include infantile hypotonia and failure to thrive, delayed psychomotor development, impaired speech, abnormal or absent gait, epilepsy, spasticity, gastrointestinal motility problems, recurrent infections, and genitourinary abnormalities. Many of those affected by M2DS also fit diagnostic criteria for autism. M2DS can be associated with syndromic facies, namely an abnormally flat back of the head, underdevelopment of the midface, ear anomalies, deep-set eyes, prominent chin, pointed nose, and a flat nasal bridge.
At birth, there is no sign that a child will develop symptoms of aspartylglucosaminuria. Typically, signs and symptoms become apparent between two and four years of age and become progressively worse as the individual ages. The following signs and symptoms may appear:
- Individuals are more prone to respiratory infections
- Development of scoliosis
- Seizures or difficulty with movement
- Skin and joints may become loose
- Facial features change progressively; this may include:
- Progression of developmental and mental disabilities, including:
- An intellectual peak occurs in the mid-teens and allows a plateau for the disease. Once an individual hits the age of 25-30 the decrease begins again, including:
(Children are physically uncoordinated, but remain able to play sports and do everyday activities until they reach adulthood.)
- During the first year of life inguinal and umbilical hernias are common.
- Less severe symptoms include:
- People with aspartylglucosaminuria may have lower than average height, because they tend to go through puberty earlier.
- Epilepsy may develop in adulthood.
- Finnish studies have shown that life expectancy is shorter than average.
Dennie–Marfan syndrome is a syndrome in which there is association of spastic paraplegia of the lower limbs and mental retardation in children with congenital syphilis. Both sexes are affected, and the onset of the disease can be acute or insidious, with slow progression from weakness to quadriplegia. Epilepsy, cataract, and nystagmus may be also be found.
The syndrome was described by Charles Clayton Dennie in 1929, and Antoine Marfan in 1936.
Weber's syndrome (also known as superior alternating hemiplegia) has a few distinct symptoms: contralateral hemiparesis of limb and facial muscle accompanied by weakness in one or more muscles that control eye movement on the same side. Another symptom that appears is the loss of eye movement due to damage to the oculomotor nerve fibers. The upper and lower extremities have increased weakness.
The only symptoms seen consistently in all 24 diagnosed cases are epilepsy, amelogenesis imperfecta in both primary and secondary teeth, and developmental delay. All symptoms experienced are experienced in varying degrees across each case.
There are some physical symptoms that have been associated with KTS. The most prominent symptom is amelogenesis imperfecta which gives the teeth a stained brown-yellow color. The enamel is thin, rough, and prone to crumbling. Two types of amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) have been seen in KTS patients. The first is Hypoplastic which is caused by the enamel being underdeveloped, and the second is hypo-calcified which causes the enamel to be soft and chalky. AI originated as a heterogeneous syndrome but has been observed as homogeneous in the case of KTS. Other physical symptoms that some cases have presented with include broad thumbs and toes, microcephaly, coarse hair, mildly asymmetric skull, up slanting palpebral fissures which is where the outside corners of the eyes are higher than normal, and smooth philtrum which is where the upper lip does not have a dip in the center.
KTS also presents itself with symptoms that affect the patient's ability to function. To varying degrees, patients either do not develop or have under developed language skills as well as under developed ambulance which is the ability to move around. Patients also present with global developmental delay. The severity of these symptoms is correlated with the intensity, frequency, and age of onset of the patient's epilepsy as well as their responsiveness to treatment for the epileptic attacks. In some severe cases, patients develop spastic tetraplegia which is the loss of function in all four limbs.
The extreme variability of symptoms was well represented in one family with 5 affected children. The first child was in a vegetative state and died at age 2. The second child showed psychomotor developmental delay at 1 month old, and epilepsy unresponsive to treatment at 9 months old. This child was also nonverbal and non ambulant. The third child's epilepsy was responsive to treatment and was ambulant, but she had an intellectual disability and only slight verbal abilities. The fourth child demonstrated developmental delay at age 6 months and had epileptic attacks that were only partially responsive to treatment. This child was non verbal and awkwardly ambulant. The fifth child was ambulant, but nonverbal and had epilepsy that was partially responsive to treatment. This variation has been seen across other cases of KTS as well.
BFPP is a cobblestone-like cortical malformation of the brain. Disruptions of cerebral cortical development due to abnormal neuronal migration and positioning usually lead to cortical disorders, which includes cobblestone lissencephaly. Cobblestone lissencephaly is typically seen in three different human congenital muscular dystrophy syndromes: Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy, Walker-Warburg syndrome, and muscle-eye-brain disease. In cobblestone lissencephaly, the brain surface actually has a bumpy contour caused by the presence of collections of misplaced neurons and glial cells that have migrated beyond the normal surface boundaries of the brain. Sometimes regions populated by these misplaced cells have caused a radiologic misdiagnosis of polymicrogyria. However, the presence of other abnormalities in these cobblestone lissencephaly syndromes, including ocular anomalies, congenital muscular dystrophy, ventriculomegaly, and cerebellar dysplasia, usually distinguishes these disorders from polymicrogyria. There are no anatomopathologic studies that have characterized the pattern of cortical laminar alterations in patients with GPR56 gene mutations, but it has been suggested that the imaging characteristics of BFPP, including myelination defects and cerebellar cortical dysplasia, are reminiscent of those of the so-called cobblestone malformations (muscle-eye-brain disease and Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy) that are also associated with N-glycosylation defects in the developing brain.
Lissencephaly ("smooth brain") is the extreme form of pachygyria. In lissencephaly, few or no sulci are seen on the cortical surface, resulting in a broad, smooth appearance to the entire brain. Lissencephaly can be radiologically confused with polymicrogyria, particularly with low-resolution imaging, but the smoothness and lack of irregularity in the gray-white junction, along with markedly increased cortical thickness, distinguishes lissencephaly.
GPR56 mutation also can cause a severe encelphalopathy which is associated with electro clinical features of the Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Lennox-Gastaut syndrome can be cryptogenic or symptomatic, but the symptomatic forms have been associated with multiple etiologies and abnormal cortical development. BFPP caused by GPR56 mutations is a representation of a malformation of cortical development that causes Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome.
Polymicrogyria usually gets misdiagnose with pacygyria so therefore it needs to be distinguished from pachygyria. Pachygyria is a distinct brain malformation in which the surface folds are excessively broad and sparse. Pachygyria and polymicrogyria may look similar on low-resolution neuroimaging such as CT because the cortical thickness can appear to be increased and the gyri can appear to be broad and smooth in both conditions. This is why higher resolution neuroimaging are needed such as an MRI.
Middle alternating hemiplegia typically constitutes weakness of the extremities accompanied by paralysis of the extraocular muscle specifically lateral rectus, on the opposite side of the affected extremities, which indicates a lesion in the caudal and medial pons involving the abducens nerve root (controls movement of the eye) and corticospinal fibers (carries motor commands from the brain to the spinal cord).
There are different tests or methods used to determine GPR56 expression or visuals of the brain to analyze the specific sections that are affected. These tests for example, using animals such as mice, RNAi, Behavioral assay, Electron microscopy, CT scan, or MRI demonstrate different results that concludes an affected BFPP patient. MRI's reveal either irregularity to the cortical surface suggestive of multiple small folds or an irregular, scalloped appearance of the gray matter-white matter junction.
Neuroimaging The diagnosis of polymicrogyria is typically made by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) since computed tomography (CT) and other imaging methods generally do not have high enough resolution or adequate contrast to identify the small folds that define the condition. The cerebral cortex often appears abnormally thick as well because the multiple small gyri are fused, infolded, and superimposed in appearance.
Neuropathology Gross neuropathologic examination reveals a pattern of complex convolutions to the cerebral cortex, with miniature gyri fused and superimposed together, often resulting in an irregular brain surface. The cortical ribbon can appear excessively thick as a result of the infolding and fusion of multiple small gyri.
Microscopic examination demonstrates that the cerebral cortex is in fact abnormally thin and has abnormal lamination; typically the cortex is unlayered or has four layers, in contrast to the normal six layers. The most superficial layers between adjacent small gyri appear fused, with the pia (layer of the meninges) bridging across multiple gyri. Prenatal diagnosis for BFPP is also available for pregnancies at risk if the GPR56 mutations have been identified in an affected family member.
Symptoms depend on the type of HSP inherited. The main feature of the disease is progressive spasticity in the lower limbs due to pyramidal tract dysfunction. This also results in brisk reflexes, extensor plantar reflexes, muscle weakness, and variable bladder disturbances. Furthermore, among the core symptoms of HSP are also included abnormal gait and difficulty in walking, decreased vibratory sense at the ankles, and paresthesia.
Initial symptoms are typically difficulty with balance, stubbing the toe or stumbling. Symptoms of HSP may begin at any age, from infancy to older than 60 years. If symptoms begin during the teenage years or later, then spastic gait disturbance usually progresses over many years. Canes, walkers, and wheelchairs may eventually be required, although some people never require assistance devices.
More specifically, patients with the autosomal dominant pure form of HSP reveal normal facial and extraocular movement. Although jaw jerk may be brisk in older subjects, there is no speech disturbance or difficulty of swallowing. Upper extremity muscle tone and strength are normal. In the lower extremities, muscle tone is increased at the hamstrings, quadriceps and ankles. Weakness is most notable at the iliopsoas, tibialis anterior, and to a lesser extent, hamstring muscles.
In the complex form of the disorder, additional symptoms are present. These include: peripheral neuropathy, amyotrophy, ataxia, mental retardation, ichthyosis, epilepsy, optic neuropathy, dementia, deafness, or problems with speech, swallowing or breathing.
Anita Harding classified the HSP in a pure and complicated form. Pure HSP presents with spasticity in the lower limbs, associated with neurogenic bladder disturbance as well as lack of vibration sensitivity (pallhypesthesia). On the other hand, HSP is classified as complex when lower limb spasticity is combined with any additional neurological symptom.
This classification is subjective and patients with complex HSPs are sometimes diagnosed as having cerebellar ataxia with spasticity, mental retardation (with spasticity), or leukodystrophy. Some of the genes listed below have been described in other diseases than HSP before. Therefore, some key genes overlap with other disease groups.
Onset of symptoms usually occur in early adulthood and is characterized by intention tremor, progressive ataxia, convulsions, and myoclonic epileptic jerks.
Tremors usually affect one extremity, primarily the upper limb, and eventually involve the entire voluntary motor system. Overall, the lower extremity is usually disturbed less often than the upper extremity.
Additional features of the syndrome include: an unsteady gait, seizures, muscular hypotonia, reduced muscular coordination, asthenia, adiadochokinesia and errors with estimating range, direction, and force of voluntary movements. Mental deterioration can occur, however it is rare.
MECP2 Duplication Syndrome (M2DS) is a rare disease that is characterized by severe intellectual disability and impaired motor function. It is an X-linked genetic disorder caused by the overexpression of MeCP2 protein.
Onset : Early childhood
Progression: Chronic progressive
Clinical: Cerebellar ataxia plus syndrome / Optic Atrophy Plus Syndrome
Ocular: Optic atrophy, nystagmus, scotoma, and bilateral retrobulbar neuritis.
Other: Mental retardation, myoclonic epilepsy, spasticity, and posterior column sensory loss. Tremor in some cases.
Musculoskeletal
Contractures, lower limbs, Achilles tendon contractures, Hamstring contractures, Adductor longus contractures
Systemic
Hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism.
The signs/symptoms of this condition are consistent with the following:
- Intellectual disability,
- Muscular hypotonia
- Encephalitis
- Seizures
- Aphasia
Microlissencephaly Type B or Barth microlissencephaly syndrome: is a microlissencephaly with thick cortex, severe cerebellar and brainstem hypoplasia. The Barth-type of MLIS is the most severe of all the known lissencephaly syndromes.
This phenotype consists of polyhydramnios (probably due to poor fetal swallowing), severe congenital microcephaly, weak respiratory effort, and survival for only a few hours or days. Barth described two siblings with this type as having a very low brainweight, wide ventricles, a very thin neopallium, absent corpus callosum and absent olfactory nerve.
In the past, HSP has been classified as early onset beginning in early childhood or later onset in adulthood. The age of onsets has two points of maximum at age 2 and around age 40. New findings propose that an earlier onset leads to a longer disease duration without loss of ambulation or the need for the use of a wheelchair. This was also described earlier, that later onset forms evolve more rapidly.
This disorder causes neurological problems, including mental retardation, brain atrophy and ventricular dilation, myoclonus, hypotonia, and epilepsy.
It is also associated with growth retardation, megaloblastic anemia, pectus excavatum, scoliosis, vomiting, diarrhea, and hepatosplenomegaly.
Kohlschütter-Tönz syndrome (KTS), also called Amelo-cerebro-hypohidrotic syndrome is a rare inherited syndrome characterized by epilepsy, dementia, intellectual disability, and yellow teeth caused by amelogenesis imperfecta (abnormal formation of tooth enamel). It is a type A ectodermal dysplasia.
It is autosomal recessive and symptoms appear in early childhood. The syndrome was first described in 1974 by Alfried Kohlschütter and colleagues. Only 24 affected individuals are known as of 2012. The disease has not been connected to any other known epileptic syndromes. Some but not all cases are associated with mutations in a gene called ROGDI. Another gene that has been associated with this condition is the SCL13A5 gene Diagnoses of this syndrome have occurred in Switzerland, Sicily, the Northern Israel Druze community as well as some other parts of Western Europe.
Various degrees of intensity and locations of epilepsy are associated with malformations of cortical development. Researchers suggest that approximately 40% of children diagnosed with drug-resistant epilepsy have some degree of cortical malformation.
Lissencephaly (to which pachygyria is most closely linked) is associated with severe mental retardation, epilepsy, and motor disability. Two characteristics of lissencephaly include its absence of convolutions (agyria) and decreased presence of convolutions (pachygyria). The types of seizures associated with lissencephaly include:
- persisting spasms
- focal seizures
- tonic seizures
- atypical seizures
- atonic seizures
Other possible symptoms of lissencephaly include telecanthus, estropia, hypertelorism, varying levels of mental retardation, cerebellar hypoplasia, corpus callosum aplasia, and decreased muscle tone and tendon reflexes. Over 90% of children affected with lissencephaly have seizures.
Patients with subcortical band heterotopia (another disorder associated with pachygyria) typically have milder symptoms and their cognitive function is closely linked to the thickness of the subcortical band and the degree of pachygyria present.
Microlissencephaly Type A or Norman-Roberts syndrome (NRS): a microlissencephaly with thick cortex without infratentorial anomalies.
Other clinical features may include: a bitemporal narrowing, a broad nasal root. There is postnatal growth retardation, severe mental retardation associated with pyramidal spasticity and epilepsy. This entity could be identical to "lissencephaly with cerebellar hypoplasia type B" (LCHb), and therefore linked to mutations in "RELN" gene.
Aspartylglucosaminuria (AGU) is an inherited disease that is characterized by a decline in mental functioning, accompanied by an increase in skin, bone and joint issues.
The disease is caused by a defect in an enzyme known as aspartylglucosaminidase. This enzyme plays a significant role in our bodies because it aids in breaking down certain sugars (for example, oligosaccharides) that are attached to specific proteins (for example, glycoproteins). Aspartylglucosaminuria itself is characterized as a lysosomal disease because it does deal with inadequate activity in an enzyme's function. Aspartylglucosaminidase functions to break down glycoproteins. These proteins are most abundant in the tissues of the body and in the surfaces of major organs, such as the liver, spleen, thyroid and nerves. When glycoproteins are not broken down, aspartylglucosaminidase backs up in the lysosomes along with other substances. This backup causes progressive damage to the tissues and organs.
The diagnosis of PMG is merely descriptive and is not a disease in itself, nor does it describe the underlying cause of the brain malformation.
Polymicrogyria may be just one piece of a syndrome of developmental abnormalities, because children born with it may suffer from a wide spectrum of other problems, including global developmental disabilities, mild to severe mental retardation, motor dysfunctions including speech and swallowing problems, respiratory problems, and seizures. Though it is difficult to make a predictable prognosis for children with the diagnosis of PMG, there are some generalized clinical findings according to the areas of the brain that are affected.
- Bilateral frontal polymicrogyria (BFP) – Cognitive and motor delay, spastic quadriparesis, epilepsy
- Bilateral frontoparietal polymicrogyria (BFPP) – Severe cognitive and motor delay, seizures, dysconjugate gaze, cerebellar dysfunction
- Bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria (BPP) – Pseudobulbar signs, cognitive impairment, epilepsy, some with arthrogryposis or lower motor neuron disease
- Bilateral parasagittal parieto-occipital polymicrogyria (BPPP) – Partial seizures, some with mental retardation
- Bilateral generalized polymicrogyria (BGP) – Cognitive and motor delay of variable severity, seizures
Recurrent seizures are the most recognizable feature of this syndrome and are most often the first sign of this syndrome. These syndromes are often ongoing and poorly responsive to anti-seizure medications. Most patients develop seizures the first few years of life, but the age of onset ranges from ages 1 to 17. Different types of seizure have been reported in this syndrome. The most common seizure type appears to be brief focal onset epileptic seizures with impairment of consciousness and awareness, known as complex partial seizures. Other features you may see in these complex partial seizures include staring, oral automatisms, unspecified automatic behavior, involuntary motor movements and/or head turning.
Furthermore, many patients have subtle nighttime behavioral changes, such as stretching, rubbing, and turning resembling a nighttime awakening. However, electroencephalography (EEG) studies during these events show abnormal electrical seizure activity, indicating that nocturnal behavioral events are actually subtle nocturnal seizures or non-convulsive status epilepticus. Many of these patients experience their seizures only during sleep. They can have seemingly bizarre features as they originate from the frontal lobe of the brain. Often, individuals with ring chromosome 20 syndrome are initially found to have complex partial seizures of frontal lobe origin, though imaging studies do not show a corresponding structural brain abnormality. In certain patients, these seizures may secondarily generalized.
Individuals from the ages of 0–17 years should be considered for ring 20 chromosome analysis if they have: predominantly complex partial seizures, medically refractory cryptogenic epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut-like features with no cause identified, frequent subtle nocturnal seizures, an EEG showing prolonged high voltage frontally dominant slowing intermixed with spikes or sharp waves, an EEG showing overlapping features of continuous slow spike and wave discharges in sleep (CSWS) and electrical status epilepticus in sleep (ESES), and/or subsequent cognitive impairment/learning difficulties/mild retardation.These patients will typically have a normal childhood development until onset of epilepsy and lack evidence of dysmorphism or other congenital malformations.
2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria is an organic aciduria, and because of the stereoisomeric property of 2-hydroxyglutarate different variants of this disorder are distinguished:
Ramsay Hunt syndrome (RHS) type 1 is a rare, degenerative, neurological disorder characterized by myoclonus epilepsy, intention tremor, progressive ataxia and occasionally cognitive impairment
It has also been alternatively called "dyssynergia cerebellaris myoclonica", "dyssynergia cerebellaris progressiva", dentatorubral degeneration, or Ramsay Hunt cerebellar syndrome.
BGP is most severe in the perisylvian regions, but occurs in a generalised distribution. Associated factors include a reduced volume of white matter and ventriculomegaly. BGP tends to show excessively folded and fused gyri of an abnormally thin cerebral cortex, and an absence of the normal six-layered structure. The abnormally thin cortex is a key factor that distinguishes this form of polymicrogyria from the others, which are characterized by an abnormally thick cortex. Most of the patients have cognitive and motor delay, spastic hemi- or quadriparesis, and seizures in varying degrees. The seizures also vary at age of onset, type, and severity. There have been pseudobulbar signs reported with BGP, which are also seen in patients suffering from BPP. This association leads to the belief that there is overlap between patients suffering from BGP and patients suffering from grade 1 BPP.