Diagnosis and misdiagnosis of adult neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (Kufs disease)

OBJECTIVE: To critically re-evaluate cases diagnosed as adult neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (ANCL) in order to aid clinicopathologic diagnosis as a route to further gene discovery. METHODS: Through establishment of an international consortium we pooled 47 unsolved cases regarded by referring centers as ANCL. Clinical and neuropathologic experts within the Consortium established diagnostic criteria for ANCL based on the literature to assess each case. A panel of 3 neuropathologists independently reviewed source pathologic data. Cases were given a final clinicopathologic classification of definite ANCL, probable ANCL, possible ANCL, or not ANCL. RESULTS: Of the 47 cases, only 16 fulfilled the Consortium's criteria of ANCL (5 definite, 2 probable, 9 possible). Definitive alternate diagnoses were made in 10, including Huntington disease, early-onset Alzheimer disease, Niemann-Pick disease, neuroserpinopathy, prion disease, and neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation. Six cases had features suggesting an alternate diagnosis, but no specific condition was identified; in 15, the data were inadequate for classification. Misinterpretation of normal lipofuscin as abnormal storage material was the commonest cause of misdiagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Diagnosis of ANCL remains challenging; expert pathologic analysis and recent molecular genetic advances revealed misdiagnoses in >1/3 of cases. We now have a refined group of cases that will facilitate identification of new causative genes

Congenital disorder of oxygen sensing: Association of the homozygous Chuvash polycythemia VHL mutation with thrombosis and vascular abnormalities but not tumors

Adaptation to hypoxia is critical for survival and regulates multiple processes, including erythropoiesis and vasculogenesis. Chuvash polycythemia is a hypoxia-sensing disorder characterized by homozygous mutation (598C\u3eT) of von Hippel-Lindau gene (VHL), a negative regulator of hypoxia sensing. Although endemic to the Chuvash population of Russia, this mutation occurs worldwide and originates from a single ancient event. That VHL 598C\u3eT homozygosity causes elevated normoxic levels of the transcription factor hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), serum erythropoietin and hemoglobin is known, but the disease phenotype has not been documented in a controlled manner. In this matched cohort study, WL 598C\u3eT homozygosity was associated with vertebral hemangiomas, varicose veins, lower blood pressures, and elevated serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentrations (P \u3c .0005), as well as premature mortality related to cerebral vascular events and peripheral thrombosis. Spinocerebellar hemangloblastomas, renal carcinomas, and pheochromocytomas typical of classical VHL syndrome were not found, suggesting that overexpression of HIF-1α and VEGF is not sufficient for tumorigenesis. Although hemoglobin-adjusted serum erythropoietin concentrations were approximately 10-fold higher in VHL 598C\u3eT homozygotes than in controls, erythropoietin response to hypoxia was identical. Thus, Chuvash polycythemia is a distinct VHL syndrome manifested by thrombosis, vascular abnormalities, and intact hypoxic regulation despite increased basal expression of hypoxia-regulated genes. © 2004 by The American Society of Hematology