MedGen

Multiple congenital anomalies-hypotonia-seizures syndrome-2 (MCAHS2) is an X-linked recessive neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by dysmorphic features, neonatal hypotonia, early-onset myoclonic seizures, and variable congenital anomalies involving the central nervous, cardiac, and urinary systems. Some affected individuals die in infancy (summary by Johnston et al., 2012). The phenotype shows clinical variability with regard to severity and extraneurologic features. However, most patients present in infancy with early-onset epileptic encephalopathy associated with developmental arrest and subsequent severe neurologic disability; these features are consistent with a form of developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) (summary by Belet et al., 2014, Kato et al., 2014). The disorder is caused by a defect in glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) biosynthesis. For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of MCAHS, see MCAHS1 (614080). For a discussion of nomenclature and genetic heterogeneity of DEE, see 308350. For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of GPI biosynthesis defects, see GPIBD1 (610293). [from OMIM]

A few individuals have been diagnosed with intermediate autosomal osteopetrosis (IAO), a form of the disorder that can have either an autosomal dominant or an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance. The signs and symptoms of this condition become noticeable in childhood and include an increased risk of bone fracture and anemia. People with this form of the disorder typically do not have life-threatening bone marrow abnormalities. However, some affected individuals have had abnormal calcium deposits (calcifications) in the brain, intellectual disability, and a form of kidney disease called renal tubular acidosis.

Other features of autosomal recessive osteopetrosis can include slow growth and short stature, dental abnormalities, and an enlarged liver and spleen (hepatosplenomegaly). Depending on the genetic changes involved, people with severe osteopetrosis can also have brain abnormalities, intellectual disability, or recurrent seizures (epilepsy).

Autosomal dominant osteopetrosis (ADO), which is also called Albers-Schönberg disease, is typically the mildest type of the disorder. Some affected individuals have no symptoms. In affected people with no symptoms, the unusually dense bones may be discovered by accident when an x-ray is done for another reason. 

Autosomal recessive osteopetrosis (ARO) is a more severe form of the disorder that becomes apparent in early infancy. Affected individuals have a high risk of bone fracture resulting from seemingly minor bumps and falls. Their abnormally dense skull bones pinch nerves in the head and face (cranial nerves), often resulting in vision loss, hearing loss, and paralysis of facial muscles. Dense bones can also impair the function of bone marrow, preventing it from producing new blood cells and immune system cells. As a result, people with severe osteopetrosis are at risk of abnormal bleeding, a shortage of red blood cells (anemia), and recurrent infections. In the most severe cases, these bone marrow abnormalities can be life-threatening in infancy or early childhood.

In individuals with ADO who develop signs and symptoms, the major features of the condition include multiple bone fractures after minor injury, abnormal side-to-side curvature of the spine (scoliosis) or other spinal abnormalities, arthritis in the hips, and a bone infection called osteomyelitis. These problems usually become apparent in late childhood or adolescence.

Osteopetrosis is a bone disease that makes bone tissue abnormally compact and dense and also prone to breakage (fracture). Researchers have described several major types of osteopetrosis, which are usually distinguished by their pattern of inheritance: autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive. The different types of the disorder can also be distinguished by the severity of their signs and symptoms. [from MedlinePlus Genetics]

MRT34 is an autosomal recessive neurologic disorder characterized by mildly to moderately impaired intellectual development and megalencephaly or enlarged head circumference. Brain imaging shows a mild variant of lissencephaly with anterior-predominant pachygyria with shallow and unusually wide sulci and mildly thickened cortex. Some patients may have seizures (summary by Di Donato et al., 2016). [from OMIM]

X-linked syndromic intellectual developmental disorder-34 (MRXS34) is an X-linked recessive neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by delayed psychomotor development, intellectual disability with poor speech, dysmorphic facial features, and mild structural brain abnormalities, including thickening of the corpus callosum (summary by Mircsof et al., 2015). [from OMIM]

An abnormally increased head circumference in a growing child. Head circumference is measured with a nonelastic tape and comprises the distance from above the eyebrows and ears and around the back of the head. The measured HC is then plotted on an appropriate growth chart. [from HPO]