Confirmatory validation of the french version of the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy module of the pediatric quality of life inventory (PedsQL3.0DMDfv).

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a neuromuscular disease that inevitably leads to total loss of autonomy. The new therapeutic strategies aim to both improve survival and optimise quality of life. Evaluating quality of life is nevertheless a major challenge.

Skeletal Ryanodine Receptors Are Involved in Impaired Myogenic Differentiation in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Patients.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is characterized by progressive muscle wasting following repeated muscle damage and inadequate regeneration. Impaired myogenesis and differentiation play a major role in DMD as well as intracellular calcium (Ca) mishandling. Ca release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum is mostly mediated by the type 1 ryanodine receptor (RYR1) that is required for skeletal muscle differentiation in animals.

High-Throughput Digital Image Analysis Reveals Distinct Patterns of Dystrophin Expression in Dystrophinopathy Patients.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an incurable disease caused by out-of-frame DMD gene deletions while in frame deletions lead to the milder Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD). In the last decade several antisense oligonucleotides drugs have been developed to induce a partially functional internally deleted dystrophin, similar to that produced in BMD, and expected to ameliorate the disease course. The pattern of dystrophin expression and functionality in dystrophinopathy patients is variable due to multiple factors, such as molecular functionality of the dystrophin and its distribution.

International retrospective natural history study of -related congenital muscular dystrophy.

Muscular dystrophies due to heterozygous pathogenic variants in gene cover a broad spectrum of clinical presentations and severity with an age of onset ranging from the neonatal period to adulthood. The natural history of these conditions is not well defined, particularly in patients with congenital or early onset who arguably present with the highest disease burden. Thus the definition of natural history endpoints along with clinically revelant outcome measures is essential to establishing both clinical care planning and clinical trial readiness for this patient group.

Effects of nusinersen after one year of treatment in 123 children with SMA type 1 or 2: a French real-life observational study.

Background: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive neuromuscular disorder characterized by degeneration of the anterior horn cells of the spinal cord. Nusinersen has been covered by public healthcare in France since May 2017. The aim of this article is to report results after 1 year of treatment with intrathecal nusinersen in children with SMA types 1 and 2 in France.

Palliative Care in SMA Type 1: A Prospective Multicenter French Study Based on Parents' Reports.

Spinal muscular atrophy type 1 (SMA-1) is a severe neurodegenerative disorder, which in the absence of curative treatment, leads to death before 1 year of age in most cases. Caring for these short-lived and severely impaired infants requires palliative management. New drugs (nusinersen) have recently been developed that may modify SMA-1 natural history and thus raise ethical concerns about the appropriate level of care for patients.

Development and Validation of a New Risk Prediction Score for Life-Threatening Ventricular Tachyarrhythmias in Laminopathies.

Background: An accurate estimation of the risk of life-threatening (LT) ventricular tachyarrhythmia (VTA) in patients with LMNA mutations is crucial to select candidates for implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation.

Methods: We included 839 adult patients with LMNA mutations, including 660 from a French nationwide registry in the development sample, and 179 from other countries, referred to 5 tertiary centers for cardiomyopathies, in the validation sample. LTVTA was defined as (1) sudden cardiac death or (2) implantable cardioverter defibrillator-treated or hemodynamically unstable VTA.

Relapsing encephalopathy with cerebellar ataxia are caused by variants involving p.Arg756 in ATP1A3.

Mutations in ATP1A3 lead to different phenotypes having in common acute neurological decompensation episodes triggered by a specific circumstance and followed by sequelae. Alongside Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood (AHC), Rapid-onset Dystonia Parkinsonism (RDP) and Cerebellar ataxia, Areflexia, Pes cavus, Optic atrophy, Sensorineural hearing loss syndrome (CAPOS), a new Relapsing Encephalopathy with Cerebellar Ataxia (RECA) phenotype was published in 2015. We describe herein eight new pediatric cases.

A large multicenter study of pediatric myotonic dystrophy type 1 for evidence-based management.

Objective: To genotypically and phenotypically characterize a large pediatric myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) cohort to provide a solid frame of data for future evidence-based health management.

Methods: Among the 2,697 patients with genetically confirmed DM1 included in the French DM-Scope registry, children were enrolled between January 2010 and February 2016 from 24 centers. Comprehensive cross-sectional analysis of most relevant qualitative and quantitative variables was performed.

Novel SPEG Mutations in Congenital Myopathy without Centralized Nuclei.

Congenital myopathies are clinically and genetically heterogeneous, and are classified based on typical structural abnormalities on muscle sections. Recessive mutations in the striated muscle preferentially expressed protein kinase (SPEG) were recently reported in patients with centronuclear myopathy (CNM) associated in most cases with dilated cardiomyopathy. Here we report the identification of novel biallelic truncating SPEG mutations in a patient with moderate congenital myopathy without clinical and histological hallmarks of CNM and without cardiomyopathy.

Uncommon nucleotide excision repair phenotypes revealed by targeted high-throughput sequencing.

Background: Deficient nucleotide excision repair (NER) activity causes a variety of autosomal recessive diseases including xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) a disorder which pre-disposes to skin cancer, and the severe multisystem condition known as Cockayne syndrome (CS). In view of the clinical overlap between NER-related disorders, as well as the existence of multiple phenotypes and the numerous genes involved, we developed a new diagnostic approach based on the enrichment of 16 NER-related genes by multiplex amplification coupled with next-generation sequencing (NGS).

Methods: Our test cohort consisted of 11 DNA samples, all with known mutations and/or non pathogenic SNPs in two of the tested genes.

Non-Ambulant Duchenne Patients Theoretically Treatable by Exon 53 Skipping have Severe Phenotype.

Background: Exon skipping therapy is an emerging approach in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Antisense oligonucleotides that induce skipping of exon 51, 44, 45, or 53 are currently being evaluated in clinical trials. These trials were designed on the basis of data available in general DMD population.

Phenotypic spectrum and incidence of TRPV4 mutations in patients with inherited axonal neuropathy.

Objective: To clarify the phenotypic spectrum and incidence of TRPV4 mutations in patients with inherited axonal neuropathies.

Methods: We screened for TRPV4 mutations in 169 French unrelated patients with inherited axonal peripheral neuropathy. Ninety-five patients had dominant Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2 (CMT2) disease, and 74 patients, including 39 patients with distal hereditary motor neuropathy, 14 with congenital spinal muscular atrophy and arthrogryposis, 13 with CMT2, and 8 with scapuloperoneal spinal muscular atrophy, presented with additional vocal cord paralysis and/or skeletal dysplasia.

PRRT2 mutations cause hemiplegic migraine.

Objective: Hemiplegic migraine (HM) is a rare subtype of migraine with aura that occurs as a familial or sporadic condition. The 3 culprit genes identified so far do not account for all familial forms of HM. PRRT2 mutations have recently been shown to cause various childhood-onset episodic syndromes including paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia, infantile convulsions with choreoathetosis syndrome, and benign familial infantile epilepsy.

The 2q37-deletion syndrome: an update of the clinical spectrum including overweight, brachydactyly and behavioural features in 14 new patients.

The 2q37 locus is one of the most commonly deleted subtelomeric regions. Such a deletion has been identified in >100 patients by telomeric fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis and, less frequently, by array-based comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH). A recognizable '2q37-deletion syndrome' or Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy-like syndrome has been previously described.

Moyamoya disease associated with hereditary spherocytosis.

A 5-year-old girl with hereditary spherocytosis presented with two episodes of transient ischemic attacks within a month. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging angiography revealed a left internal carotid artery and middle cerebral artery stenosis, with an extensive vascular mesh in the thalamic area indicative of moyamoya disease. Treatment consisted of supporting cerebral perfusion with blood transfusions, and splenectomy to prevent recurrence.

Collapsing glomerulopathy in Galloway-Mowat syndrome: a case report and review of the literature.

The Galloway-Mowat syndrome (GMS) (MIM251300) is described as an autosomal recessive disorder, the gene of which has not yet been identified. We report the case of a boy presenting with an early nephrotic syndrome, microcephaly, seizures, and psychomotor retardation. He died at 3 years and 11 months in a context of end-stage renal function consistent with a GMS.

Familial rectal pain: a familial autonomic disorder as a cause of paroxysmal attacks in the newborn baby.

A 2-day-old baby exhibited impressive paroxysmal attacks consisting of bradycardia, bronchospasm and vasomotor fits (Harlequin type) related to a rare, dominantly inherited form of dysautonomy called "familial rectal pain". These events were recurrently triggered by emotion, diaper changes or wiping of the perineal areas or eating. Sometimes they occurred spontaneously.

Midbrain disconnection: an aetiology of severe central neonatal hypotonia.

A full term girl exhibited massive hypotonia related to severe posterior fossa abnormalities consisting of pontocerebellar hypoplasia with midbrain disconnection. The latter was due to lack of one and marked hypoplasia of the other cerebral peduncles. In addition, there was mild vermian and cerebellar hypoplasia.

Hereditary sensory neuropathy with spastic paraplegia.

We report the case of a 4-year-old boy with hereditary sensory neuropathy manifesting as insensitivity to pain in all four limbs and associated with spastic paraplegia. The patient was referred with multiple injuries to his fingers suggestive of self-mutilation and attributed to psychiatric disturbance. Clinical examination corrected the diagnosis by revealing insensitivity to pain in all four limbs, associated with spastic paraplegia.

An unusual case of methyl bromide poisoning.

A nonlethal poisoning case by methyl bromide in a young woman due to leakage of old fire extinguishers is described. The patient developed major action and intention myoclonus the day following exposure. Inorganic bromide concentrations in plasma were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.