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Participant 004


Seizures, cataracts, microcephaly
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Male, age 20 months, with seizures, cataracts, small head size (microcephaly), and global developmental delay caused by a change in the NACC1 gene

Date of Report

Jul 01, 2016

Description

During the first few months of life, the patient was noticed to have slow growth and developmental delay. He was not visually tracking, focusing on faces, or responding to some sounds. At 8 months, he was found to have cataracts in both eyes and was diagnosed with infantile spasms. A brain MRI showed mild delays in myelination and mildly decreased brain volume with slightly large ventricles. The patient’s parents also report that when he gets angry or upset, like when trying to urinate or have a bowel movement, he will hold his breath, turn blue, and pass out.

Symptoms / Signs
  • Global developmental delay
  • Poor weight gain (failure to thrive)
  • Seizures (infantile spasms, generalized myoclonic seizures)
  • Tremors
  • Breath-holding spells (cyanotic breath-holding spells)
  • Small head size (microcephaly)
  • Wide head shape (brachycephaly)
  • Cataracts in both eyes (lamellar, bilateral cataracts)
  • Visual impairment (cortical)
  • Deep set eyes
  • Prominent cheekbones
  • Possible mild hearing loss
  • Difficulty swallowing (oral-pharyngeal dysphagia)
  • Sleep apnea (central)
  • Abnormal breathing (breathing dysregulation)
  • Acid reflux disease (gastroesophageal reflux)
  • Difficulty urinating
  • Funnel chest (pectus excavatum)
  • Exaggerated cupid’s bow
  • Thick eyebrows
  • Long eyelashes
  • Flat bridge of nose (depressed nasal bridge)
  • Short neck
  • Single crease on palms (single transverse palmar crease bilaterally)
  • Curvature of pinky fingers (clinodactyly of 5th finger bilaterally)
Current Treatments
  • Topamax- seizures
  • Ketogenic diet – seizures
  • Clonazepam- seizures and mood
  • Gabapentin/neurontin- deep sleep assistance and gastric pain
  • G-Tube- poor weight gain
Prior Treatments
Considered treatments
Previously Considered Diagnoses
  • Hypomyelination and congenital cataract (caused by genetic changes in FAM126A gene)
  • Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease
  • Microdeletion/duplication syndrome
Other Photographs
Genetic Variants of Interest

Clinicians and researchers have identified the following de novo genetic change to be causing the participant’s symptoms (Schoch et al, 2017):

Gene
Inheritance Pattern
Position (hg19)
Transcript
DNA Change
Protein Change
Unknown
chr19:g.13246913C>T
NM_052876.3
c.892C>T
p.Arg298Trp
Contact

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