Spinal muscular atrophy with hypoplasia of the corpus callosum: a case report

Background: Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a severe neuromuscular disorder due to a defect in the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. Hypoplasia of the corpus callosum is underdevelopment or thinness of the corpus callosum. SMA and callosal hypoplasia are relatively rare, and there is limited information sharing the diagnosis and treatment for SMA patients with callosal hypoplasia.

Case description: A boy with callosal hypoplasia, small penis, and small testes had been perceived with motor regression at 5 months. He was referred to the rehabilitation department and neurology department at 7 months. Physical examination showed absent deep tendon reflexes, proximal weakness and significant hypotonia. He was recommended to perform trio whole-exome sequencing (WES) and array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) for his complicated conditions. The subsequent nerve conduction study revealed some characteristics of motor neuron diseases. We identified a homozygous deletion in exon 7 of the SMN1 gene by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification and failed to find further pathogenic variations responsible for multiple malformations by trio WES and aCGH. He was diagnosed as SMA. Despite some concerns, he received the therapy of nusinersen for nearly 2 years. He gained the milestone of sitting without support, which he had never accomplished, after the seventh injection, and he continued to improve. During follow-up, there were no adverse events reported and no signs of hydrocephalus.

Conclusions: Some extra features which could not belong to neuromuscular manifestation made the diagnosis and treatment of SMA more complicated.