Coexistent orbital and cerebellar venous anomalies in linear sebaceous naevus syndrome

Background: Orbital venous anomalies can result in significant morbidity and have been reported in association with other venous anomalies, some with the potential for serious complication. Methods/results: We present a case of an orbital venous anomaly coexistent with a large cerebellar venous angioma and a linear sebaceous naevus. Clinical features, associations, complications .and management principles are presented. Conclusion: Upon clinical recognition of an orbital venous anomaly, brain imaging and appropriate clinical assessment should be considered in light of the possibility of coexistence of potentially life-threatening lesions

IFPA meeting 2015 workshop report IV: placenta and obesity; stem cells of the feto-maternal interface; placental immunobiology and infection

Abstract not availableM.H. Abumaree, A. Almutairi, S. Cash, P. Boeuf, L.W. Chamley, T. Gamage, J.L. James, B. Kalionis, T.Y. Khong, K.S. Kolahi, R. Lim, S. Liong, T.K. Morgan, K. Motomura, H.N. Peiris, R.A. Pelekanos, E. Pelzer, A. Shafiee, G.E. Lash, D. Natal

Familial neonatal seizures in 36 families: clinical and genetic features correlate with outcome

Objective We evaluated seizure outcome in a large cohort of familial neonatal seizures (FNS), and examined phenotypic overlap with different molecular lesions. Methods Detailed clinical data were collected from 36 families comprising two or more individuals with neonatal seizures. The seizure course and occurrence of seizures later in life were analyzed. Families were screened for KCNQ2, KCNQ3, SCN2A, and PRRT2 mutations, and linkage studies were performed in mutation-negative families to exclude known loci. Results Thirty-three families fulfilled clinical criteria for benign familial neonatal epilepsy (BFNE); 27 of these families had KCNQ2 mutations, one had a KCNQ3 mutation, and two had SCN2A mutations. Seizures persisting after age 6 months were reported in 31% of individuals with KCNQ2 mutations; later seizures were associated with frequent neonatal seizures. Linkage mapping in two mutation-negative BFNE families excluded linkage to KCNQ2, KCNQ3, and SCN2A, but linkage to KCNQ2 could not be excluded in the third mutation-negative BFNE family. The three remaining families did not fulfill criteria of BFNE due to developmental delay or intellectual disability; a molecular lesion was identified in two; the other family remains unsolved. Significance Most families in our cohort of familial neonatal seizures fulfill criteria for BFNE; the molecular cause was identified in 91%. Most had KCNQ2 mutations, but two families had SCN2A mutations, which are normally associated with a mixed picture of neonatal and infantile onset seizures. Seizures later in life are more common in BFNE than previously reported and are associated with a greater number of seizures in the neonatal period. Linkage studies in two families excluded known loci, suggesting a further gene is involved in BFNE

De-novo mutations of the sodium channel gene SCN1A in alleged vaccine encephalopathy: a retrospective study

Copyright © 2006 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.BackgroundVaccination, particularly for pertussis, has been implicated as a direct cause of an encephalopathy with refractory seizures and intellectual impairment. We postulated that cases of so-called vaccine encephalopathy could have mutations in the neuronal sodium channel alpha1 subunit gene (SCN1A) because of a clinical resemblance to severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI) for which such mutations have been identified.MethodsWe retrospectively studied 14 patients with alleged vaccine encephalopathy in whom the first seizure occurred within 72 h of vaccination. We reviewed the relation to vaccination from source records and assessed the specific epilepsy phenotype. Mutations in SCN1A were identified by PCR amplification and denaturing high performance liquid chromatography analysis, with subsequent sequencing. Parental DNA was examined to ascertain the origin of the mutation.FindingsSCN1A mutations were identified in 11 of 14 patients with alleged vaccine encephalopathy; a diagnosis of a specific epilepsy syndrome was made in all 14 cases. Five mutations predicted truncation of the protein and six were missense in conserved regions of the molecule. In all nine cases where parental DNA was available the mutations arose de novo. Clinical-molecular correlation showed mutations in eight of eight cases with phenotypes of SMEI, in three of four cases with borderline SMEI, but not in two cases with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.InterpretationCases of alleged vaccine encephalopathy could in fact be a genetically determined epileptic encephalopathy that arose de novo. These findings have important clinical implications for diagnosis and management of encephalopathy and, if confirmed in other cohorts, major societal implications for the general acceptance of vaccination.Samuel F Berkovic, Louise Harkin, Jacinta M McMahon, James T Pelekanos, Sameer M Zuberi, Elaine C Wirrell, Deepak S Gill, Xenia Iona, John C Mulley and Ingrid E Schefferhttp://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622235/description#descriptio

PRRT2 mutations cause benign familial infantile epilepsy and infantile convulsions with choreoathetosis syndrome

Benign familial infantile epilepsy (BFIE) is a self-limited seizure disorder that occurs in infancy and has autosomal-dominant inheritance. We have identified heterozygous mutations in PRRT2, which encodes proline-rich transmembrane protein 2, in 14 of 17 families (82%) affected by BFIE, indicating that PRRT2 mutations are the most frequent cause of this disorder. We also report PRRT2 mutations in five of six (83%) families affected by infantile convulsions and choreoathetosis (ICCA) syndrome, a familial syndrome in which infantile seizures and an adolescent-onset movement disorder, paroxysmal kinesigenic choreoathetosis (PKC), co-occur. These findings show that mutations in PRRT2 cause both epilepsy and a movement disorder. Furthermore, PRRT2 mutations elicit pleiotropy in terms of both age of expression (infancy versus later childhood) and anatomical substrate (cortex versus basal ganglia)

Adult cardiac-resident MSC-like stem cells with a proepicardial origin

Colony-forming units – fibroblast (CFU-Fs), analogous to those giving rise to bone marrow (BM) mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), are present in many organs, although the relationship between BM and organ-specific CFU-Fs in homeostasis and tissue repair is unknown. Here we describe a population of adult cardiac-resident CFU-Fs (cCFU-Fs) that occupy a perivascular, adventitial niche and show broad trans-germ layer potency in vitro and in vivo. CRE lineage tracing and embryo analysis demonstrated a proepicardial origin for cCFU-Fs. Furthermore, in BM transplantation chimeras, we found no interchange between BM and cCFU-Fs after aging, myocardial infarction, or BM stem cell mobilization. BM and cardiac and aortic CFU-Fs had distinct CRE lineage signatures, indicating that they arise from different progenitor beds during development. These diverse origins for CFU-Fs suggest an underlying basis for differentiation biases seen in different CFU-F populations, and could also influence their capacity for participating in tissue repair

The spectrum of SCNIA-related infantile epileptic encephalopathies

The relationship between severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI or Dravet syndrome) and the related syndrome SMEI-borderland (SMEB) with mutations in the sodium channel alpha 1 subunit gene SCN1A is well established. To explore the phenotypic variability associated with SCN1A mutations, 188 patients with a range of epileptic encephalopathies were examined for SCN1A sequence variations by denaturing high performance liquid chromatography and sequencing. All patients had seizure onset within the first 2 years of life. A higher proportion of mutations were identified in patients with SMEI (52/66; 79%) compared to patients with SMEB (25/36; 69%). By studying a broader spectrum of infantile epileptic encephalopathies, we identified mutations in other syndromes including cryptogenic generalized epilepsy (24%) and cryptogenic focal epilepsy (22%). Within the latter group, a distinctive subgroup designated as severe infantile multifocal epilepsy had SCN1A mutations in three of five cases. This phenotype is characterized by early onset multifocal seizures and later cognitive decline. Knowledge of an expanded spectrum of epileptic encephalopathies associated with SCN1A mutations allows earlier diagnostic confirmation for children with these devastating disorders.Louise A. Harkin, Jacinta M. McMahon, Xenia Iona, Leanne Dibbens, James T. Pelekanos, Sameer M. Zuberi, Lynette G. Sadleir, Eva Andermann, Deepak Gill, Kevin Farrell, Mary Connolly, Thorsten Stanley, Michael Harbord, Frederick Andermann, Jing Wang, Sat Dev Batish, Jeffrey G. Jones, William K. Seltzer, Alison Gardner, The Infantile Epileptic Encephalopathy Referral Consortium, Grant Sutherland, Samuel F. Berkovic, John C. Mulley, and Ingrid E. Scheffe