Alexander disease, a progressive disorder of cerebral white matter caused by a heterozygous GFAP pathogenic variant, comprises a continuous clinical spectrum most recognizable in infants and children and a range of nonspecific neurologic manifestations in adults. This chapter discusses the spectrum of Alexander disease as four forms: neonatal, infantile, juvenile, and adult. The neonatal form begins in the first 30 days after birth with neurologic findings (e.g., hypotonia, hyperexcitability, myoclonus) and/or gastrointestinal manifestations (e.g., gastroesophageal reflux, vomiting, failure to thrive), followed by severe developmental delay and regression, seizures, megalencephaly, and typically death within two years. The infantile form is characterized by variable developmental issues: initially some have delayed or plateauing of acquisition of new skills, followed in some by a loss of gross and fine motor skills and language during in the first decade or in others a slow disease course that spans decades. Seizures, often triggered by illness, may be less frequent/severe than in the neonatal form. The juvenile form typically presents in childhood or adolescence with clinical and imaging features that overlap with the other forms. Manifestations in early childhood are milder than those in the infantile form (e.g., mild language delay may be the only developmental abnormality or, with language acquisition, hypophonia or nasal speech may alter the voice, often prior to appearance of other neurologic features). Vomiting and failure to thrive as well as scoliosis and autonomic dysfunction are common. The adult form is typically characterized by bulbar or pseudobulbar findings (palatal myoclonus, dysphagia, dysphonia, dysarthria or slurred speech), motor/gait abnormalities with pyramidal tract signs (spasticity, hyperreflexia, positive Babinski sign), or cerebellar abnormalities (ataxia, nystagmus, or dysmetria). Others may have hemiparesis or hemiplegia with a relapsing/remitting course or slowly progressive quadriparesis or quadriplegia. Other neurologic features can include sleep apnea, diplopia or disorders of extraocular motility, and autonomic dysfunction. [from GeneReviews]
- MedGen UID:
- 78724
- •Concept ID:
- C0270726
- •
- Disease or Syndrome
- GTR
- ClinVar
- Genes
- OMIM
- GeneReviews