PLA2G6-associated neurodegeneration (PLAN) comprises a continuum of three phenotypes with overlapping clinical and radiologic features: Infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy (INAD). Atypical neuroaxonal dystrophy (atypical NAD). PLA2G6-related dystonia-parkinsonism. INAD usually begins between ages six months and three years with psychomotor regression or delay, hypotonia, and progressive spastic tetraparesis. Many affected children never learn to walk or lose the ability shortly after attaining it. Strabismus, nystagmus, and optic atrophy are common. Disease progression is rapid, resulting in severe spasticity, progressive cognitive decline, and visual impairment. Many affected children do not survive beyond their first decade. Atypical NAD shows more phenotypic variability than INAD. In general, onset is in early childhood but can be as late as the end of the second decade. The presenting signs may be gait instability, ataxia, or speech delay and autistic features, which are sometimes the only evidence of disease for a year or more. Strabismus, nystagmus, and optic atrophy are common. Neuropsychiatric disturbances including impulsivity, poor attention span, hyperactivity, and emotional lability are also common. The course is fairly stable during early childhood and resembles static encephalopathy but is followed by neurologic deterioration between ages seven and 12 years. PLA2G6-related dystonia-parkinsonism has a variable age of onset, but most individuals present in early adulthood with gait disturbance or neuropsychiatric changes. Affected individuals consistently develop dystonia and parkinsonism (which may be accompanied by rapid cognitive decline) in their late teens to early twenties. Dystonia is most common in the hands and feet but may be more generalized. The most common features of parkinsonism in these individuals are bradykinesia, resting tremor, rigidity, and postural instability.

Beta-propeller protein-associated neurodegeneration (BPAN) is typically characterized by early-onset seizures, infantile-onset developmental delay, intellectual disability, absent-to-limited expressive language, motor dysfunction (ataxia), and abnormal behaviors often similar to autism spectrum disorder. Seizure types including generalized (absence, tonic, atonic, tonic-clonic and myoclonic), focal with impaired consciousness, and epileptic spasms, as well as epileptic syndromes (West syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome) can be seen. With age seizures tend to resolve or become less prominent, whereas cognitive decline and movement disorders (progressive parkinsonism and dystonia) emerge as characteristic findings.

Neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation-7 (NBIA7) is characterized by iron accumulation in the basal ganglia and manifests as a progressive extrapyramidal syndrome with dystonia, rigidity, and choreoathetosis. Severity and rate of progression are variable (Drecourt et al., 2018). For a general phenotypic description and a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of NBIA, see NBIA1 (234200).

Neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation-8 (NBIA8) is characterized by iron accumulation in the basal ganglia and manifests as a progressive extrapyramidal syndrome with dystonia, rigidity, and choreoathetosis (Drecourt et al., 2018). For a general phenotypic description and a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of NBIA, see NBIA1 (234200).

Neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation-9 (NBIA9) is characterized by global developmental delay apparent from infancy and progressive neurodegeneration of motor and cognitive skills. Affected individuals have delayed walking or inability to walk, spasticity with hyperreflexia, ataxia, dystonia, and poor or absent language. Additional more variable features include dysphagia, failure to thrive, poor growth, microcephaly, hypotonia, impaired vision, and seizures. Brain imaging shows progressive cerebral and cerebellar atrophy, iron accumulation in the basal ganglia, thin corpus callosum, and pontocerebellar hypoplasia. The disorder can be classified as a neuroferritinopathy (see NBIA3, 606159) (Shieh et al., 2023). For a general phenotypic description and a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of NBIA, see NBIA1 (234200).