Childhood onset spinocerebellar ataxia type 2: a family report and literature review
10.3760/cma.j.cn113694-20220216-00109
- VernacularTitle:儿童期发病的脊髓小脑性共济失调2型一家系及文献复习
- Author:
Jing LIU
1
;
Daoqi MEI
;
Pengbo GUO
;
Mengjun XIAO
;
Zhenhua XIE
;
Xian LI
;
Qiang ZHANG
;
Dongxiao LI
Author Information
1. 郑州大学附属儿童医院 河南省儿童遗传代谢性疾病重点实验室 河南省儿童神经发育工程研究中心,郑州450018
- Keywords:
Spinocerebellar ataxias;
Child;
Trinucleotide repeat expansion;
Pedigree;
ATXN2 gene
- From:
Chinese Journal of Neurology
2022;55(5):490-496
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics, genetic characteristics and diagnosis of spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) patients with childhood onset.Methods:The clinical data of a SCA2 pedigree who diagnosed at Neurogenetic Metabolic Disease Clinic of Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University in July 2019 were collected, and the reported cases of childhood-onset SCA2 were reviewed. The CAG repeat of ATXN2 gene was detected by polymerase chain reaction, capillary gel electrophoresis and Sanger sequencing techniques.Results:A total of 9 people in 4 generations of the family were affected, showing an autosomal dominant inheritance. The proband was a 3 years and 4 months old boy, who showed abnormal symptoms at 9 months which manifested as developmental retardation. At 1 year old, he developed progressive regression which represented neither to be amused, recognize others, stand and walk alone, nor had language development. Meanwhile, he had difficulty swallowing, long-term constipation, and a history of convulsions. His sister and mother were not yet sick. His grandmother could not walk, had slurred speech accompanied by nystagmus, and magnetic resonance imaging showed cerebellar atrophy. His granduncles and grandaunts had unstable walking and dysarthria. His great-grandfather required wheelchair to walk. This pedigree showed an autosomal dominant inheritance. One of the ATXN2 gene alleles of the proband, his sister, mother and grandmother all showed abnormal amplification with 99, 55, 44, and 43 times respectively and no inserting CAA sequence. A total of 14 literatures reported 20 cases of childhood-onset SCA2 patients who were genetically diagnosed. The majorities had onset in infancy, and few can develop into school age. The main clinical manifestations were developmental delay, dystonia or insufficiency, myoclonus or infantile spasms, motor retardation, abnormal eye movement, retinitis pigmentosa and dysphagia, while the classic cerebellar syndrome was only partially present. Abnormal rhythm was found on electroencephalogram, cerebellar atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging or CT of the head.Conclusions:This case is the youngest genetically-confirmed SCA2 patient reported in China. Reported patients usually have onset in infancy with excessive repeat sequence expansion. Their clinical characteristics are different from the classic patients and could only be diagnosed by dynamic mutation detection.