Objective:To summarize the clinical characteristics of children with dystonia 28 (DYT28) caused by KMT2B gene variations so as to improve clinicians′ understanding of the disease. Methods:The clinical manifestations, treatment and gene variation data of 11 children with DYT28 caused by KMT2B gene variations were retrospectively collected and analyzed.The subjects were recruited from the Department of Neurology, Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University from March 2018 to January 2021.The patients were followed up. Results:There were 8 males and 3 females.The age at onset was ranging from 1 month to 6 years without inducement.Eight cases were gene-ralized dystonia and 3 cases were multifocal dystonia.The initial symptoms of 7 cases were unilateral or bilateral lower limbs tiptoeing.Four cases presented dysarthria, retching or swallowing difficulties at onset.As the disease progressed, all the cases had laryngeal dystonia, 10 cases had lower limbs dystonia, and 8 cases had upper limbs dystonia.Six cases were complicated with other dyskinesia symptoms.Ten cases had varying degrees of short stature, microcephalus, micrognathia, musculoskeletal abnormalities, intellectual disability, endocrinopathies and sleep difficulties.The brain magnetic resonance imaging showed abnormal in only 1 case.Eleven KMT2B gene pathogenic variants were found, including 8 frameshift variants, 1 in-frame variant and 2 missense variants.Four variants were novel.Eleven cases were followed up at the age of 1 year and 7 months to 17 years and 9 months.One case wasn′t given therapy.The dystonia in 3 cases was mildly improved after medication.Dysfunction of urination and defecation was disappeared in 1 case after medication.The symptom of 6 cases had no improvement after drug therapy.Among the above 6 cases, 5 drug refractory cases had deep brain stimulation, and their dystonia symptoms are all obviously improved; 2 cases had normal control of urination and defecation after deep brain stimulation.The motor scores in the Burke-Fahn-Marsden dystonia rating scale were improved by 55.8%-90.7%, and the disability scores were improved by 14.8%-69.6%. Conclusions:DYT28 caused by KMT2B gene variations is one of the most common and early-onset genetic dystonia in children.The dystonia symptom progresses from local parts to the whole body, prominently involving laryngeal muscles and lower limbs.Control of urination and defecation requires attention.Patients with mild dystonia symptoms can be effectively treated by drugs.However, patients with severe dystonia symptoms were drug refractory, and their dystonia symptoms can be effectively improved by deep brain stimulation.

Objective:To summarize the clinical characteristics and genetic features of tyrosine hydroxylase deficiency(THD) caused by TH gene variants for the improvement of the understanding of the disease. Methods:The clinical and genetic data of 33 children with THD caused by TH gene variants were diagnosed in the Department of Neurology of Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University from May 2011 to January 2020 and their data were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Results:There were 19 females and 14 males.The age at onset was ranged from 0 to 6.3 years.13 patients developed diseases, accompanied with fever after infection, and 1 patient suffered from hypoxia, 19 patients suffered from no predisposing factors.There were 7 mild TH-deficient dopa-responsive dystonia cases, 16 severe TH-deficient infantile parkinsonism with motor delay cases and 10 very severe TH-deficient progressive infantile encephalopathy cases.Clinical symptoms were fluctuating, including 26 cases of diurnal fluctuation, 22 cases of infection aggravation, and 30 cases of fatigue aggravation.The initial symptoms included tiptoeing and numbness in the limbs(7 cases), motor development retardation or degression (26 cases), fremitus (8 cases), ptosis (2 cases), and status dystonicus (3 cases). Other clinical features had hypermyotonia (23 cases), hypomyotonia (27 cases), decreased movement (27 cases), decreased facial expression (24 cases), fremitus (18 cases), tiptoeing (20 cases), talipes equinovarus (7 cases), ptosis (8 cases), oculogyric crisis (10 cases), salivation (21 cases), dysphagia (12 cases), dysarthria (16 cases), dyspnea (3 cases), increased sleep (10 cases), decreased sleep (5 cases), irritable mood (15 cases), apathetic mood (2 cases), profuse sweating (8 cases), and status dystonicus (6 cases). A total of 6 patients′ right limbs were more severe, and 14 patients′ lower limbs were more severe.Eight patients had family history, and Levodopa treatment was effective for all patients.Ten patients suffered side effects, including dyskinesia and irritability.Four patients were lost follow-up, and 29 patients were followed up between 0.8 and 13.2 years old until Ja-nuary 2020.Totally, 22 patients almost had no such symptoms.Twenty-five TH gene pathogenic variants were discovered in 33 patients.There were 13 novel variants (c.1160T>C, c.1303T>C, c.887G>A, c.1084G>A, c.1097A>T, c.734G>T, c.907C>G, c.588G>T, c.992T>G, c.755G>A, c.184-6C>T, c.1510C>T, c.910G>A) and 2 patients had c. 910G>A variant.Meanwhile, there were 5 hot variants [c.698G>A(13 cases), c.457C>T(9 cases), c.739G>A(6 cases), c.1481C>T(4 cases), c.694C>T(3 cases)]. c.910G>A(2 cases) may be the foun-der variant of Chinese population. Conclusions:THD caused by TH gene variant mostly onsets from infant, with complex clinical features.Most of these patients were severe, and only a few were very severe and mild.Very severe and mild symptoms were easily misdiagnosed.Levodopa treatment was obviously effective.A possible founder variant of Chinese population (c.910G>A) was found.c.698G>A and c. 457C>T mutations mainly appeared in patients with severe and extremely severe THD, while c. 739G>A mainly appeared in patients with mild THD.

Objective:To explore the progress and prospect of evaluation methods for infertility patients.Methods:From September 2017 to December 2020,199 cases of infertility patients who have accepted mini-hysteroscopy examination in the Department of Gynecological Endocrinology,Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital,Capital Medical University.The patients who had primary ovary insufficiency,tubal infertility were excluded;patients with hysteroscopy contradiction,such as acute or sub-acute vaginal tract inflammation,en-dometrium lesion or endometrium carcinoma,severe cardiovascular,liver or kidney insufficiency were excluded.40 patients were excluded and 15 patients lost follow up,144 patients were eventually included in the analysis.The patient's age,body mass index,infertility etiology,preoperative and postoperative stimulate ovulation cycle,pregnancy state and pregnancy time were recorded.The effect of mini-hysteroscopy on ovulation induction cycle was analyzed in pregnant patients.Results:The average age of 144 patients was 32.10±4.67 years old.96 (66.67％) patients were found to have intrauterine abnormalities,while 48 (33.33％) patients were found to have normal intrauterine cavity.48 cases of pregnancy,accounting for 33.33％;the median and interquartile ranges[M (Q1,Q3)]of ovulation induction cycles before and after surgery were respectively[3 (0,5)],[2 (1,3)],the difference was statistically significant(P ＜ 0.05).Among the 48 pregnant patients,32 of them had no structural lesions in hysteroscopy,the ovula-tion induction cycle of these patients before and after hysteroscopy were respectively[5 (0,9)],[1 (0,3)],the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion:Uterine cavity evaluation is important for the assessments of fertility.As an advanced diagnosis instrument,mini-hysteroscopy can not only timely detect the intrauterine abnormalities of patients,but also with great application value in shorten the ovulation cycle in infertility patients and increase the pregnancy rate.

Objective: To investigate the clinical features and diagnostic bases of childhood leukoencephalopathy with cerebral calcifications and cysts (LCC). Methods: The clinical data involving manifestations and laboratory examinations of 4 children with LCC admitted to Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University from 2012 to 2017 were retrospectively summarized. Each patient had a follow-up visit ranging from 4 months to 5 years and 9 months after initial examination. Results: Patients consisted of 2 males and 2 females, whose age of onset was respectively 2 years and 9 months, 6 years and 2 months, 7 years and 10 months, and 5 years and 1 month. The main clinical symptoms of these cases included headache, dizziness, partial seizure and claudication, and two of these cases had insidious onset. Cerebral calcifications and cysts with leukoencephalopathy were detected by neuroimaging in all patients. In addition, multifocal microhemorrhages and calcifications were observed by magnetic susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) series in 3 patients. Brain biopsy performed on 1 case disclosed a neuronal reduction in the cerebral cortex, loosening of focal white matter, multifocal lymphocyte infiltration, fresh hemorrhages, and gliosis, as well as angiomatous changes of blood vessels with hyalinized thicken-wall, stenotic or occlusive lumina and calcification deposits. The compound heterozygous mutations of n.*10G>A and n.82A>G in SNORD118 were identified in 1 case by target-capture next-generation sequencing. Sanger sequencing verified that the variant n.*10G>A was a novel mutation and it was of paternal-origin, while the variant n.82A>G was of maternal-origin, which had already been reported to be pathogenic to LCC. Follow-up study had shown continued partial seizure in 1 case and remissive claudication in another, while the remaining 2 cases had a relatively favorable outcome without obvious neurological symptoms at present time. Conclusions The clinical manifestations of LCC are nonspecific, and the onset of the disease tends to be insidious. The triad neuroimaging findings of cerebral calcifications, cysts and leukoencephalopathy are essential to the diagnosis of the disease, and the signals of microhemorrhages revealed by SWI series provide another eloquent reference for the diagnosis. As biopsy is invasive and usually unavailable in the early stage, gene assessment, instead of pathological data, should be the gold standard in the diagnosis of LCC.

Objective: To summarize the detailed clinical characteristics and genetic features of benign infantile epilepsy with PRRT2 mutation, in order to improve the understanding of the disease. Methods: The clinical data and genetic results of 40 benign infantile epilepsy patients with PRRT2 mutation who were diagnosed and treated in the neurology department of National Center for Children's Health (Beijing) , Beijing Children's Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University from January 2002 to October 2017 and their affected family members were analyzed. Results: Forty benign infantile epilepsy patients were recruited for this study, with 18 males and 22 females. The age at onset ranged from 3 to 15 months (median: 4.6 months). All patients presented focal seizures with or without secondary generalization. Decreased responsiveness, eyes stare and cyanosis were commonly observed. A cluster of seizures was observed in 20 patients at the beginning of the disease, but interictal clinical conditions were normal. Interictal electroencephalograms were normal in 32 cases but 8 cases showed small amount scattered spike and spike wave. Two patients developed paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia in 30 months and 12 years respectively after the cessation of the seizure. Thirty-four affected pedigree members had a history of paroxysmal episodes in 24 families, including 19 individuals of infantile afebrile convulsion, 6 individuals of paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia during childhood or adulthood, 8 individuals of infantile convulsion and paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia during adulthood, one individual of infantile febrile convulsion. The follow-up time ranged from 6 months to 15 years. Thirty-six patients were treated with antiepileptic drugs and their seizures were easy to control. Four patients stayed seizure free without medication (all <2 years). Seizure stopped in 24 patients within 1 year of age, in 10 patients stopped during 12-24 months and in 2 patients stopped during 24-36 months. All cases had PRRT2 mutations, 7 cases of a complete PRRT2 deletion, 33 cases of PRRT2 heterozygous mutations consisted of 28 frameshift mutations and 5 missense mutations. Of these heterozygous mutations, 30 cases were hereditary mutations while 3 were de novo mutations. Nine family members harbored the same PRRT2 mutations without any symptom. Conclusions Benign infantile epilepsy with PRRT2 mutation is characterized by early onset of seizure mostly before 6 months, focal seizures with or without secondary generalization, a high incidence of a cluster of seizures, rapid resolution of seizure by antiepileptic drugs and cessation of seizure mostly before 2 years of age. Partial patients may develop paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia increasing with age. Most PRRT2 gene mutations are heterozygous mutations, and a few are the overall deletion of PRRT2 gene.

Objective To investigate the clinical features and gene diagnostic bases of childhood L-2 -hydroxyglutaric aciduria (L-2-HGA). Methods The clinical data involving manifestations,laboratory examinations of 4 children with L-2-HGA admitted to Beijing Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University from April 2015 to March 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Each patient had a follow-up visit ranging from 3 months to 3 years and 2 months after initial examination. Results The 4 patients,of whom 2 were siblings,consisted of 1 male and 3 females,whose age of onset ranged from 8 months old to 3 years old. All of them presented with seizures as their initial symptom. The developmental milestones were all normal before onset,while 3 cases gradually became mentally stagnant. Other symptoms included unsteady gait in 3 cases,slight hand trembling when holding items in 2 cases,and pyramidal impairment in 2 cases. Bilateral symmetric abnormalities in subcortical white matter,basal ganglia and dentate nucleus were detected by cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)in all patients,and cerebral and cerebellar atrophy was ob-served in 1 case. Organic acid analysis by gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry (GC/ MS)demonstrated notable ele-vation of urinary 2-hydroxyglutaric acid in 3 cases. Pathogenic mutations on L2HGDH gene were detected by target -capture high-throughput sequencing in all 4 patients. The compound heterozygous mutations of c. 845G > A (p. Arg282Gln)and c. 800_801delCA (p. Ser267Ter)were identified in case 1,the homozygous missense mutation of c. 584A > G (p. Tyr195Cys ) in case 2 and case 3,and the homozygous frameshift mutation of c. 407delA (p. Lys136SerfsTer3)in case 4. The variants of c. 800_801delCA and c. 407delA were novel mutations firstly reported in this study. Sanger sequencing verified that parents of the 4 cases were all heterozygous carriers. The follow-up study in 2 cases who were put on high dosage of vitamin B2 and L-carnitine had shown a relatively favorable outcome of mild remission in ataxia and absence of mental degradation and further seizures,while the other 2 cases without specific therapy remained relatively stable. Conclusions The main clinical manifestations of L-2-HGA are mental retarda-tion,seizures and ataxia. Bilateral symmetric abnormalities in subcortical white matter,basal ganglia and dentate nucleus are specific neuroimaging findings. Significant elevation of urinary 2-hydroxyglutaric acid is the basic feature of the disease,while gene assessment should be the gold standard in the diagnosis of L-2-HGA. Treatment with high dosage of vitamin B2 and L-carnitine might be effective to partial patients.

Objective: To investigate the clinically and genetic characteristics of children with Leigh syndrome. Method: Patients with clinically diagnosed Leigh syndrome(LS)in the department of Neurology, Beijing Children′s Hospital from January 2013 to February 2016 underwent the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear DNA (nDNA) detecting with next generation sequencing (NGS) technology. The clinical data of gene confirmed cases were retrospectively collected and analyzed. The differences in the onset age, clinical manifestations, lactic acid level and MRI results between the mtDNA variation and nDNA variation were compared and analyzed.t test, Chi-square test and Fisher′s exact test were used for statistical analysis. Result: Thirty-five cases were diagnosed by gene detection, including 20 males and 15 females. The median onset age was 1 year (ranging from the neonatal period to 4.4 years old). The age of onset within 2 years accounted for 74%(26 cases). The onset age of initial symptoms, including developmental delay, developmental regression, and seizures, were 6 (4, 12) months, 12 (8, 14) months, and 6 (1, 23) months respectively. The onset age of ptosis, extrapyramidal symptoms and ataxia were 26 (18, 44) months, 28 (23, 40) months and 28 (19, 35) months, respectively. There were significant differences in the onset age between the three groups (H=21.919, P=0.01). Within the 35 cases, 29 were manifested with developmental delay (83%), 26 with dystonia (74%), 18 with growth retardation, 15 with myasthenia, 13 with developmental regression, 11 with dysphagia, 10 with feeding difficulties, 4 with skeletal dysplasia, and 2 with digestive tract symptoms; nystagmus and respiratory abnormalities were observed in 9 cases respectively; extrapyramidal symptoms, peripheral nerve injury, ptosis, seizures were observed in 8 cases respectively; and ataxia, ophthalmoplegia and hypertrichiasis were found in 5 cases respectively.The blood lactic acid was measured in 32 LS patients, within which 23 cases (72%) had increased results; 8 out of 11 cases who underwent were cerebrospinal fluid lactic acid test had increased results. The results of neuroimaging revealed that all the patients were involved in the brainstem and (or) basal ganglia, of whom 27 (77%) had brainstem involvement, 24 (69%) had basal ganglia involvement. Thirteen out of 14 patients who had medulla oblongata involvement had nDNA variation; while 7 out of 8 patients with cerebellar involvement had nDNA variation. Genetic etiology was confirmed in all patients, among whom there were 17 cases (49%) with mtDNA mutation, including 8993T>C/G (n=5), 14487T>C (n=4), 13513G>A (n=2), 9176T>C, 10158T>C, 3697G>A, 10191T>C, 14459A>G and 11777C>A (n=1) respectively. Remaining 18 cases(51%) had nDNA mutation, including SURF1 gene(n=10), PDHA1 gene(n=3) and one case each of NDUFV1, NDUFAF6, NDUFAF5, NDUFS1 and COQ7 genes. In this study, 27 types of mutations were founded, 15 of which had not been previously reported. Respiratory chain gene mutations have been found in 31 cases(89%); 3 cases had PDHc gene mutations, and 1 case had other mutation. Conclusion LS usually occurs in infants. The most common primary symptoms are age-dependent abnormal movements, ocular symptoms, and seizures. Respiratory chain defects is the most common causes of LS.SURF1 is the most common variation, followed by 8993T>C/G, 14487 T>C and 13513G>A mutation.

OBJECTIVETo observe the efficacy and safety of atomoxetine hydrochloride in children with narcolepsy.

METHODTotally 66 patients with narcolepsy who were conformed international classification of sleep disturbances (ICSD-2) diagnostic criteria treated with atomoxetine hydrochloride seen from November 2010 to December 2014 were enrolled into this study, 42 of them were male and 24 female, mean age of onset was 7.5 years (3.75-13.00 years), mean duration before diagnosis was 1.75 years (0.25-5.00 years). Complete blood count, liver and kidney function, multiple sleep latency test (MSLT), polysomnography (PGS), neuroimaging and electroencephalography (EEG) were performed for each patient. For some of the children HLA-DR2 gene and serum markers of infection were tested. The 66 cases were followed up from 2 to 49 months (average 18 months) to observe the clinical efficacy and adverse reactions.

RESULTSIn 62 cases excessive daytime sleepiness was improved, in 11 cases (16.7%) it was controlled (16.7%), in 29 cases (43.9%) the treatment was obviously effective and in 22 (33.3%) it was effective; cataplexy occurred in 54 cases, in 18 (33.3%) it was controlled, in 19 (35.2%) the treatment was obviously effective and in 10 (18.5%) effective; night sleep disorders existed in 55 cases, in 47 cases it was improved, in 14 (25.5%) it was controlled, in 20 (36.4%) the treatment was obviously effective and in 13 (23.6%) effective; hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucination was present in 13 cases, in only 4 these symptoms were controlled. Sleep paralysis existed in 4 cases, it was controlled in only 1 case. In 18 cases attention and learning efficiency improved.Anorexia occurred in 18 cases, mood disorder in 5 cases, depression in 2 cases, nocturia, muscle tremors, involuntary tongue movement each occurred in 1 case. P-R interval prolongation and atrial premature contraction were found in 1 case.

CONCLUSIONAtomoxetine hydrochloride showed good effects in patients with narcolepsy on excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy and night sleep disorders, the effects on hallucinations and sleep paralysis were not significant. Adverse reactions were slight, anorexia and mood disorder were common. As a non-central nervous system stimulant, atomoxetine hydrochloride does not induce drug dependence and has no prescription limits; it has good tolerability, safety and effectiveness, it can be a good alternative in treatment of children with narcolepsy.

Adolescent ; Atomoxetine Hydrochloride ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Cataplexy ; drug therapy ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Electroencephalography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Narcolepsy ; drug therapy ; Neuroimaging ; Polysomnography

OBJECTIVETo explore the application value of next generation sequencing (NGS) in the diagnosis of mitochondrial disorders.

METHODAccording to mitochondrial disease criteria, genomic DNA was extracted using standard procedure from peripheral venous blood of patients with suspected mitochondrial disease collected from neurological department of Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University between October 2012 and February 2014. Targeted NGS to capture and sequence the entire mtDNA and exons of the 1 000 nuclear genes related to mitochondrial structure and function. Clinical data were collected from patients diagnosed at a molecular level, then clinical features and the relationship between genotype and phenotype were analyzed.

RESULTMutation was detected in 21 of 70 patients with suspected mitochondrial disease, in whom 10 harbored mtDNA mutation, while 11 nuclear DNA (nDNA) mutation. In 21 patients, 1 was diagnosed congenital myasthenic syndrome with episodic apnea due to CHAT gene p.I187T homozygous mutation, and 20 were diagnosed mitochondrial disease, in which 10 were Leigh syndrome, 4 were mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke like episodes syndrome, 3 were Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) and LHON plus, 2 were mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome and 1 was unknown. All the mtDNA mutations were point mutations, which contained A3243G, G3460A, G11778A, T14484C, T14502C and T14487C. Ten mitochondrial disease patients harbored homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in 5 genes previously shown to cause disease: SURF1, PDHA1, NDUFV1, SUCLA2 and SUCLG1, which had 14 mutations, and 7 of the 14 mutations have not been reported.

CONCLUSIONNGS has a certain application value in the diagnosis of mitochondrial diseases, especially in Leigh syndrome atypical mitochondrial syndrome and rare mitochondrial disorders.

Child ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; genetics ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Leigh Disease ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; diagnosis ; Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathies ; Mutation ; Optic Atrophy, Hereditary, Leber ; Phenotype ; Point Mutation ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

An analysis of medical liability insurance practice at the hospital in the past 6 years found that medical liability insurance failed to work as expected in medical dispute prevention and risk sharing.The analysis also found that such an insurance will take a greater role in risk sharing,exposure to conflicts,cause discovery,and responsibility,with enhanced government role in guidance and intervention.Thus medical liability insurance is highly advocated by such means as compulsory execution,coordinating mechanism of insurance funding,prevention“medical dispute profiteers”,and adaptation to new approaches in medical dispute settlement.