Use of Flow Cytometry for Diagnosis of Epilepsy Associated With Homozygous PIGW Variants

PIGW-related glycosylphosphatidylinositol deficiency: A case report and literature review

INTRODUCTION

PIGW-related glycosylphosphatidylinositol deficiency is a rare disease that manifests heterogeneous clinical phenotypes.

METHODS

We describe a patient with PIGW deficiency and summarize the clinical characteristics of the case. In addition, we conducted a literature review of previously reported patients with pathogenic variants of PIGW.

RESULTS

A Chinese girl presented with refractory epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, recurrent respiratory infections, and hyperphosphatasia. Seizures worsened during fever and infections, making her more susceptible to epileptic status. She was found to carry a heterozygous variant of PIGW and a deletion of chromosome 17q12 containing PIGW. Only six patients with homozygous or compound heterozygous pathogenic variants of PIGW have been identified in the literature thus far. Epileptic seizures were reported in all patients, and the most common types of seizures were epileptic spasms. Distinctive facial and physical features and recurrent respiratory infections are common in these patients with developmental delays. Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels were elevated in four of the six patients.

CONCLUSIONS

PIGW-related glycosylphosphatidylinositol deficiency is characterized by developmental delay, epilepsy, distinctive facial features, and multiple organ anomalies. Genetic testing is an important method for diagnosing this disease, and flow cytometry and serum ALP level detection are crucial complements for genetic testing.

Prenatal ultrasound findings associated with PIGW variants: One more piece in the FRYNS syndrome puzzle? PIGW-related prenatal findings

OBJECTIVE

We describe the prenatal ultrasound findings and autopsy of three fetuses with multiple congenital anomalies (MCA) whose diagnostic workup suggested the same genetic etiology. We conducted a literature review to corroborate the molecular results and find evidence that the identified variants are responsible for the phenotype seen.

METHODS

Trio-based Exome Sequencing (ES) analysis was performed on chorionic villus samples. We reviewed available reports dealing with prenatal manifestations of genes involved in the Glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPI) biosynthesis defects (GPIBDs).

RESULTS

Prenatal findings shared by all the three pregnancies included facial dysmorphisms, brain malformations of the posterior fossa, skeletal and genitourinary anomalies. ES analysis identified homozygous variants of uncertain significance in PIGW in the three fetuses. Prenatal findings of the three pregnancies overlapped with those previously described for PIGW variants and with those associated with PIGN, PIGV and PIGA variants.

CONCLUSION

Based on the phenotypic overlap between the prenatal findings in our three cases and other cases with pathogenic variants in other genes involved in GPIBDs, we speculate that the variants identified in the three fetuses are likely causal of their phenotype and that the PIGWclinical spectrum might extend to MCA, mainly involving brain, skeletal and genitourinary systems. Moreover, we suggest that also PIGW could be involved in Fryns/Fryns-like phenotypes.

PIGW-related glycosylphosphatidylinositol deficiency: Description of a new patient and review of the literature

Inherited glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) deficiencies are a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous conditions belonging to the congenital disorders of glycosylation. PIGW is involved in GPI biosynthesis and modification, and biallelic pathogenic variants in this gene cause autosomal recessive GPI biosynthesis defect 11. Only five patients and two fetuses have been reported in the literature thus far. Here we describe a new patient with a novel homozygous missense variant in PIGW, who presented with hypotonia, severe intellectual disability, early-onset epileptic seizures, brain abnormalities, nystagmus, hand stereotypies, recurrent respiratory infections, distinctive facial features, and hyperphosphatasia. Our report expands the phenotype of GPI biosynthesis defect 11 to include stereotypies and recurrent respiratory infections. A detailed and long-term analysis of the electroclinical characteristics and review of the literature suggest that early-onset epileptic seizures are a key manifestation of GPI biosynthesis defect 11. West syndrome and focal-onset epileptic seizures are the most common seizure types, and the fronto-temporal regions may be the most frequently involved areas in these patients.