Postirradiation spinal root cavernoma.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Pierre Labauge.
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OBJECTIVES: To define the frequency of retinal lesions in a large panel of patients with familial cerebral cavernomas and to screen the cerebral cavernous malformation genes in patients with cerebral and retinal lesions. METHODS: Fundus examination was proposed to each of the index patients of 70 families with cerebral cavernous malformation who have been included in a prospective clinical and neuroradiological follow-up. All of the coding exons of the KRIT1, MGC4607, and PDCD10 genes were screened as previously described. RESULTS: Of the 70 index patients, 60 were consecutively examined. The 10 remaining patients refused the fundus examination. Three of the 60 examined patients had a retinal cavernoma diagnosis. Three mutations were found: a point mutation within exon 5 of the KRIT1 gene, a large deletion that encompassed exons 1 and 2 of the MGC4607 gene, and a large genomic de novo deletion encompassing the whole PDCD10 gene. CONCLUSIONS: Retinal cavernoma frequency can be estimated to be about 5% of the patients with familial cerebral cavernomas. Retinal cavernomas are not restricted to KRIT1 mutation carriers but can be observed in patients carrying a mutation in any of the 3 cerebral cavernous malformation genes. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Five percent of patients with familial cerebral cavernomas have retinal cavernomas. These lesions are clinically asymptomatic. They can be associated with any of the 3 cerebral cavernous malformation genes.
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OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical features of CCM1, CCM2, and CCM3 mutation carriers. METHODS: A detailed clinical and molecular analysis of 163 consecutive cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) families was performed. RESULTS: A deleterious mutation was detected in 128 probands. Three hundred thirty-three mutation carriers were identified (238 CCM1, 67 CCM2, and 28 CCM3). Ninety-four percent of the probands with an affected relative had a mutation compared with 57% of the probands with multiple lesions but no affected relative (p < 0.001). The number of affected individuals per family was lower in CCM3 families (p < 0.05). The proportion of patients with onset of symptoms before 15 years of age was higher in the CCM3 group (p < 0.0025). Cerebral hemorrhage was the most common initial presentation in CCM3 patients. The average number of T2-weighted imaging lesions was similar in the three groups, in contrast with a significantly lower number of gradient-echo sequence lesions in CCM2 patients (p < 0.05). The number of gradient-echo sequence lesions increased more rapidly with age in CCM1 than in CCM2 patients (p < 0.05). INTERPRETATION: Despite similarities among the three groups, there is a significantly lower number of affected individuals in CCM3 pedigrees, CCM3 mutations may confer a higher risk for cerebral hemorrhage, particularly during childhood, and the increment of gradient-echo sequence lesions with age differs between CCM1 and CCM2 patients.
Leukoencephalopathy with vanishing white matter syndrome (childhood ataxia with central nervous system hypomyelination/vanishing white matter disease) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by the occurrence of acute episodes of deterioration after minor head trauma or infection, and symmetrical demyelination on magnetic resonance with cavitation aspects. Mutations in each of the five subunits of eIF2B have been identified. We report in an affected man and his mother an adult-onset form of childhood ataxia with central nervous system hypomyelination/vanishing white matter disease-like disorder with no mutations in the EIF2B genes and normal guanine nucleotide exchange factor eIF2B activity, suggesting a new dominant inheritance of this syndrome that may involve other genes.
Cerebral Cavernous Malformations (CCM/OMIM 604214) are vascular malformations causing seizures and cerebral hemorrhages. They occur as a sporadic and autosomal dominant condition, the latter being characterized by the presence of multiple CCM lesions. Stereotyped truncating mutations of KRIT1, the sole CCM gene identified so far, have been identified in CCM1 linked families but the clinical features associated with KRIT1 mutations have not yet been assessed in a large series of patients. We conducted a detailed clinical, neuroradiological and molecular analysis of 64 consecutively recruited CCM families segregating a KRIT1 mutation. Those families included 202 KRIT1 mutation carriers. Among the 202 KRIT1 mutation carriers, 126 individuals were symptomatic and 76 symptom-free. Mean age at clinical onset was 29.7 years (range, 2-72); initial clinical manifestations were seizures in 55% of the cases and cerebral hemorrhages in 32%. Average number of lesions on T2 weighted MRI was 4.9 (+/-7.2) and on gradient echo sequences 19.8 (+/-33.2). Twenty-six mutation carriers harbored only one lesion on T2-weighted MRI, including 4 mutation carriers, aged from 18 to 55 yr-old, who presented only one CCM lesion both on T2-weighted and on highly sensitive gradient echo MRI sequences. Five symptom free mutation carriers, aged from 27 to 48 yr-old, did not have any detectable lesion both on T2WI and gradient echo MRI sequences. Within KRIT1/CCM1 families, both clinical and radiological penetrance are incomplete and age dependent. Importantly for genetic counseling, nearly half of the KRIT1 mutation carriers aged 50 or more are symptom-free. The presence of only one lesion, even when using gradient echo MRI sequences, can be observed in some patients with an hereditary form of the disease. Incomplete neuroradiological penetrance precludes the use of cerebral MRI to firmly establish a non carrier status, even at an adult age and even when using highly sensitive gradient echo MRI. Altogether these data suggest that the hereditary nature of the disorder may be overlooked in some mutation carriers presenting as sporadic cases with a unique lesion.
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Ovarian failure (OF) at age <40 years occurs in approximately 1% of all women. Other than karyotype abnormalities, very few genes are known to be associated with this ovarian dysfunction. We studied eight patients who presented with premature OF and white-matter abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging. Neurological signs may be absent or present after OF. In seven patients, we report for the first time mutations in three of the five EIF2B genes (EIF2B2, -4, and -5) that were recently shown to cause childhood ataxia with central nervous system hypomyelination/vanishing white-matter disease leukodystrophy. The correlation we observed between the age at onset of the neurological deterioration and the severity of OF suggests a common pathophysiological pathway.
BACKGROUND: Dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder mainly diagnosed in Japan. Its prevalence is low in other countries. Three phenotypes are described: choreoathetoid movements, cerebellar ataxia, and progressive myoclonic epilepsy. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the frequency of DRPLA in European patients with sporadic or autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia. METHODS: We analyzed a series of 809 index patients with either autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia (416 families) or progressive cerebellar ataxia without a family history of the disease (393 cases) for the DRPLA mutation. RESULTS: We identified a CAG repeat expansion in the DRPLA gene in one family and in one patient without a family history. The familial case illustrates the phenomenon of anticipation and the previously established correlation between the phenotype and size of the expansion. A censored-history family or expansion of large normal CAG repeats during paternal transmission could be implicated in the patient without a family history. CONCLUSIONS: This study enables us to estimate the frequency of the disease as 0.25% in both families with autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia and sporadic cases of ataxia in our series, confirming the very low frequency of DRPLA in Europe. In both familial and sporadic cases, molecular testing for DRPLA could be restricted to patients with ataxia with one of the following features: chorea, dementia, or myoclonic epilepsy.
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Cerebral Cavernous Malformations (CCM/MIM 604214) are vascular malformations characterised by abnormally enlarged capillary cavities without intervening brain parenchyma. Clinical manifestations include seizures, cerebral haemorrhages and focal neurological deficits. They occur as a sporadic or autosomal dominant condition. Most often, sporadic cases have only one lesion and familial cases are characterised by a high frequency of multiple lesions. Three CCM loci were previously mapped on 7q (CCM1), 7p (CCM2) and 3q (CCM3) and CCM1 gene was identified as coding Krit1, a protein of unknown function, which was shown initially to interact in yeast two hybrid assays with Rap1A, a small ras GTPase and more recently to Icap1alpha, a modulator of beta1 integrin signal transduction. Herein, we screened KRIT1 gene in 121 unrelated, consecutively recruited, CCM probands having at least one affected relative and/or showing multiple lesions on cerebral MRI. Fifty-two of these probands (43%) were shown to carry a KRIT1 mutation. Forty-two distinct mutations were identified including six recurrent ones. Three-quarters of these mutations were located in the C-terminal half of the gene, mostly within exons 13, 15 and 17. All of them are predicted to lead to a premature stop codon. No missense mutation was identified. The only two nucleotide substitutions predicted to be missense mutations led in fact to an abnormal splicing and a premature stop codon. Altogether these data suggest that KRIT1 mRNA decay due to the presence of premature stop codons and Krit1 haploinsufficiency may be the underlying mechanism of CCM.
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Headaches were classified in 1988 by the International Headache Society (IHS). Postural headache is related to intracranial hypotension, most often secondary to lumbar puncture. We report three observations where headache of unknown cause led to the diagnosis of spontaneous intracranial hypotension.