Clinical Description
Following the initial description of rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism (RDP) by Dobyns et al [1993] prior to knowledge of its genetic cause, the understanding of the scope of ATP1A3-related disorder subsequently expanded to include four historically defined phenotypes: alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC); cerebellar ataxia, areflexia, pes cavus, optic atrophy, sensorineural hearing loss (CAPOS) syndrome; relapsing encephalopathy with cerebellar ataxia (RECA) / fever-induced paroxysmal weakness and encephalopathy (FIPWE); and RDP. The widespread use of exome and genome sequencing (i.e., non-hypothesis-driven molecular genetic testing) led Salles & Fernandez [2020] to conceptualize ATP1A3-related disorder as encompassing "a broadly heterogeneous continuum of features" shared among the historical clinically defined phenotypes (see ).
AHC
Criteria have been proposed whereby a diagnosis of AHC can be established in an individual with two mandatory features in addition to either three major features or two major and three minor features [Mikati et al 2021] (see Table 2).
Table 2.
Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood: Diagnostic Criteria
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Mandatory Features | Major Features | Minor Features |
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| Onset before age 18 months Dystonia episodes Different types of episodes occurring independently or simultaneously w/evolution from one or more manifestations to different ones during the same episode Paroxysmal episodes of nystagmus Sleep-dependent spell improvement
| Occurrence of epileptic seizures Episodes of altered consciousness Abnormal motor function Episodes of autonomic dysfunction
|
Acute presentation. AHC is characterized by onset prior to age 18 months of paroxysmal hemiplegic episodes, predominately involving the limbs and/or the whole body. These paroxysmal episodes last from minutes to hours to days (and sometimes weeks) with remission only during sleep, only to resume after awakening.
Other paroxysmal neurologic manifestations can include the following:
Oculomotor abnormalities (usually the earliest abnormalities seen), including monocular or binocular nystagmus, intermittent eso- or exotropia, skew deviation, ocular bobbing, and ocular flutter
Tonic or dystonic episodes (in one or more limbs either unilaterally or generalized)
Status dystonicus (sustained contractions of the limbs and potentially the axial musculature, which can be a medical emergency) [
Zúñiga-Ramírez et al 2019]
More complex dyskinesias, such as chorea of the limbs
Episodes of quadriparesis or hemi- or quadriplegia (separate attacks or result from generalization of a hemiplegic episode
Seizures and status epilepticus (i.e., a seizure with ≥5 minutes of continuous clinical and/or electrographic activity, or two or more seizures within a 5-minute period without recovery) [
Tran et al 2020]
Seizure-like episodes without EEG correlation, including status dystonicus and psychogenic non-epileptic seizure (PNES)
Autonomic phenomena either during hemiplegic episodes or independently, such as unilateral or bilateral pupillary dilatation, flushing, pallor affecting one limb or hemibody (i.e., either right or left half of the body)
Impairment of speech and/or swallowing
Respiratory distress with oxygen desaturation during episodes of neurologic dysfunction [
Kansagra et al 2019]
Headache
Non-motor interictal neurobehavioral/psychiatric manifestations including behavioral outbursts, impulsivity, aggression, and mood disorders [
Wallace et al 2020]
Subsequent disease course
Persistent neurologic dysfunction. Although paroxysmal episodic neurologic dysfunction predominates early in the disease course, with age increasingly persistent neurologic dysfunction predominates.
By early childhood, more than 50% of children with AHC have clinical seizure activity, including focal, partial, or generalized tonic-clonic movements [
Uchitel et al 2019,
Neupert et al 2022].
Persistent motor abnormalities include ataxia, generalized or focal dystonia, choreoathetosis, and/or parkinsonism with tremor/bradykinesia/rigidity.
Areflexia or hyperreflexia. Tone may be increased or decreased; thus, at different times affected individuals may find limb movement is either easier or more difficult.
Oculomotor apraxia and strabismus can be present.
Dysarthria can manifest as difficulty with subtle pronunciation of words or articulation more broadly.
Dysphagia typically manifests initially as difficulty swallowing liquids compared with eating solid food, and is sometimes accompanied by drooling.
Neurobehavioral/psychiatric manifestations can include behavioral outbursts, impulsivity and aggression, and mood disorder [
Wallace et al 2020].
Other system involvement. It should be noted that as other systems become involved and as manifestations become more complex – that is, cognitive deficits, neurobehavioral issues, and cardiac problems – the boundary between AHC and other phenotypes becomes less distinct.
Cardiac conduction abnormalities include T wave abnormalities and intraventricular conduction delay with increased risk of life-threatening cardiac rhythm abnormalities like those observed in cardiac channelopathies [
Balestrini et al 2020,
Moya-Mendez et al 2021].
Gastrointestinal manifestations include constipation, vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea, nausea, and abdominal pain (observed in >90% of individuals with AHC [
Pratt et al 2020]). Dysmotility, oropharyngeal dysphagia, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) may also be present. Severity of gastrointestinal manifestations seems to correlate with non-paroxysmal neurologic disability.
Hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction, observed in some individuals, can include precocious puberty, growth hormone deficiency, short stature, recurrent fevers, and erratic body temperature [
Wallace et al 2021].
Non-sleep-related apneas (NSAs), observed in some individuals, are typically severe and often triggered by epileptic seizures, flu/fever, feeding, GERD, AHC spells (including hemiplegia involving one or both sides of the body, dystonia, abnormal ocular movements, and autonomic dysfunction), sedation/anesthesia, and severe hiccups [
Thamby et al 2024].
Sedation/anesthesia complications may be severe and include apneas, seizures, bradycardia, and ventricular fibrillation that responds to resuscitation. Moderate complications include non-life-threatening bradycardias, apneas, AHC spells, or seizures [
Parker et al 2022].
Prognosis. The level of functioning of individuals with AHC varies widely from person to person. There is no conclusive evidence that AHC shortens life expectancy.
CAPOS Syndrome
Acute presentation. CAPOS syndrome presents in infancy or childhood (usually ages 6 months to 5 years [Demos et al 2014]) with cerebellar ataxia during or after a fever. In addition to ataxia, the acute febrile encephalopathy may include hypotonia, flaccidity, nystagmus, strabismus, dysarthria/anarthria, lethargy, loss of consciousness, and even coma.
Subsequent disease course. Although onset and progression of optic atrophy and sensorineural hearing loss is not well characterized, 14 individuals experienced hearing loss as the first or only manifestation [Lee et al 2020, Wang et al 2021]. While the course and severity of findings can vary considerably, it appears that progression occurs over time. Usually, considerable recovery occurs within days to weeks; however, persistence of some degree of ataxia and other manifestations, including the following findings, is typical [Demos et al 2014, Heimer et al 2015, Potic et al 2015, Maas et al 2016, Duat Rodriguez et al 2017, Rosewich et al 2017, Hayashida et al 2018, Stenshorne et al 2019, Tahir et al 2021, Kaneshiro et al 2024].
Hypotonia, flaccidity, hyporeflexia, areflexia, pes cavus
Dystonia and choreiform movements
Abnormal eye movements (nystagmus, strabismus)
Progressive optic nerve atrophy and vision loss
Progressive sensorineural hearing loss
Brief generalized tonic-clonic seizures
Dysarthria/anarthria
Dysphagia
Cognitive dysfunction, including lethargy, loss of consciousness, and coma
Neurobehavioral/psychiatric manifestations
Prognosis. Permanence of CAPOS symptoms, level of functioning, and life expectancy vary widely.
RECA/FIPWE
Acute presentation. RECA/FIPWE primarily presents with fever-induced episodes between infancy and age five years; rarely, first episodes occur in young adults during illnesses such as mononucleosis. Recurrent fever-induced episodes may be motor manifestations (ataxia, weakness) or non-motor manifestations (encephalopathy) and can vary among affected individuals. Notably, ataxia-dominated (RECA-like) and weakness-dominated (FIPWE-like) manifestations can occur in the same individual in different episodes [Biela et al 2021, Chouksey et al 2021, Zhang et al 2022].
Triggering fevers usually accompany typical childhood illnesses, with or without identified infections; rarely, episodes occur during infections without fever.
Many episodes involve generalized weakness, usually bilateral hypotonia but sometimes unilateral.
Some episodes involve acute cerebellar ataxia, possibly with choreoathetosis or pyramidal signs.
Manifestations can involve bulbar function, including dysarthria, dysphagia, difficulty swallowing, and/or drooling.
Encephalopathy during fever in some individuals can manifest as impaired consciousness ranging from drowsiness to transient loss of consciousness to coma in rare instances. Other individuals have no alteration of consciousness.
Mutism can be a principal manifestation during the febrile phase.
Other manifestations that sometimes appear in the acute phase are brief dystonic episodes or paroxysmal stiffness, abnormal ocular movements, suspected seizure, areflexia, or facial grimaces.
Subsequent disease course. The RECA/FIPWE phenotype, particularly the motor deficits, is not yet fully characterized. Some individuals seem to have episodes that decrease in frequency and severity over time, while others might experience worsening of manifestations.
While acute manifestations resolve gradually after the fever resolves, some manifestations persist, especially apraxia and ataxia [Yano et al 2017, Zhang et al 2022]. Unlike individuals with CAPOS syndrome, in almost 50% of individuals with RECA/FIPWE areflexia is the only irreversible loss of sensory modalities reported to date.
During recovery from acute fever, motor manifestations that can also emerge include the following:
Cerebellar ataxia (often the most prominent feature during recovery) rather than weakness (Of note, while ataxia can be present during acute illness, it may not be obvious because of hypotonia.)
Ocular movement abnormalities
Dystonia and muscle rigidity
Choreiform movements
Areflexia
Dysarthria, including speech difficulty (Severity varies widely between individuals.)
Seizures (However, epilepsy is not a major feature.)
Sustained reduced responsiveness, bradykinesia, and paraparesis (rare)
After the acute phase, some manifestations may gradually worsen, including the following:
Persistent motor deficits (particularly ataxia, dysarthria, and dystonia)
Inability to walk independently
Areflexia (In one individual, electromyogram indicated some distal denervation accompanying areflexia [
Sabouraud et al 2019].)
While frank impairment of cognition is not common, cognitive delays and challenges with memory or concentration have been observed. Psychomotor delay prior to episodes has been reported.
Neurobehavioral/psychiatric manifestations, such as irritability, mood fluctuations, and anger outbursts have been reported but are not universal.
Prognosis. As for all the ATP1A3-related phenotypes, life expectancy and functioning are highly variable in individuals with RECA/FIPWE.
RDP
The RDP phenotype was initially named because its delayed and rapid onset was thought to be distinctive; however, over time it became apparent that dystonia and bradykinesia, its predominant manifestations, are common in the other ATP1A3-related phenotypes [Haq et al 2019].
Acute presentation. The acute onset of RDP may be preceded by mild nonspecific manifestations of dystonia, including limb cramping (most often the hands or arms) [Haq et al 2019].
Primary onset occurs between ages four and 55 years (range: 9 months to >60 years) with dystonia characterized by the following (see Haq et al [2019] and ):
In a cohort of individuals with ATP1A3-related rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism (RDP), persons progressed to diffuse involvement without rostrocaudal gradient. Predominance of any dystonia at onset is seen on the left and at initial study visit is seen (more...)
Progression typically stops at or before one month after onset with little subsequent improvement.
Subsequent disease course
Dystonia. Although dystonia rarely improves significantly after onset, some individuals report mild improvement over time, whereas others can experience subsequent episodes of abrupt worsening months to years after onset. These events resemble the primary onset, with worsening of bulbar, arm, and leg manifestations over a similar time course; however, because only a few affected individuals have been reexamined over an extended time, documentation of subsequent events is incomplete.
Preliminary analysis of 14 individuals with longitudinal follow up suggests severity of dystonia can vary over time, with most experiencing stability or mild worsening [Haq et al, unpublished data]. When present, bradykinesia is directly proportional to the severity of the dystonia and appears to be a function of the dystonia, without other parkinsonian features such as pill-rolling tremor and diurnal fluctuation, and with minimal or no response to standard medications for parkinsonism.
Non-motor features include the following:
Cognitive impairment, a relatively common finding, often precedes motor onset. This can include difficulty with memory and learning, psychomotor speed, attention, and executive functioning. These differences persist after controlling for psychomotor speed and severity of depressive symptoms [
Cook et al 2014].
Neurobehavioral/psychiatric manifestations. Although their scores are in the normal range, individuals with RDP frequently report anxiety, depression, general mood disorders, and substance abuse (though not at frequencies significantly higher than those in
familial controls). Psychosis was more frequently reported in individuals with RDP (20% vs 0% in familial controls) [
Haq et al 2019].
Headaches are significantly more common among individuals with RDP than
familial controls (68% vs 40%) [
Haq et al 2019].
Prognosis. Life expectancy, to date, has been normal. Level of neurologic functioning is highly variable.
Interfamilial and Intrafamilial Variability
Both interfamilial variability (i.e., wide variability of clinical presentation in individuals from unrelated families who have the same ATP1A3 pathogenic variant) and intrafamilial variability (i.e., wide variability in clinical presentation in individuals who have the same ATP1A3 pathogenic variant within the same immediate or extended family) are observed. The factors underlying this variability are the subject of active research.
Genotype-Phenotype Correlations
Although ATP1A3-related disorder is a continuum of neurologic manifestations, genotype-phenotype correlations for several ATP1A3 pathogenic variants have been reported [Salles & Fernandez 2020, Vezyroglou et al 2022] (see Table 9).
Phenotypes associated with certain pathogenic variants in multiple individuals include the following:
CAPOS syndrome. A unique correlation has been reported between the p.Glu818Lys
pathogenic variant and its fever-induced ataxia
phenotype [
Demos et al 2014,
Tranebjærg et al 2018]. While glutamate 818 is in a short cytoplasmic loop near glutamate 815, which is mutated in many individuals with AHC, CAPOS syndrome has little clinical overlap with AHC. Some individuals with the p.Glu818Lys pathogenic variant manifest only the auditory neuropathy phenotype of CAPOS syndrome [
Tranebjærg et al 2018,
Lee et al 2020,
Lax et al 2021,
Wang et al 2021]. However, individuals and family members with the p.Glu818Lys pathogenic variant should be considered at risk of disease progression and development of other features of CAPOS syndrome.
Intermediate phenotypes (those showing overlap across disease phenotypes), often with onset in childhood, have been reported in individuals with the following ATP1A3 pathogenic variants: p.Gly358Asp, p.Gly867Asp, p.Asp923Asn, and p.Glu951Lys [Anselm et al 2009, Brashear et al 2012b, Roubergue et al 2013, Rosewich et al 2014, Panagiotakaki et al 2015, Pereira et al 2015, Termsarasab et al 2015, Jaffer et al 2017].