L-2 hydroxyglutaric aciduria presenting with anxiety symptoms

Psychiatric Manifestations in Children and Adolescents with Inherited Metabolic Diseases

Background: Inherited metabolic disorders (IEMs) can be represented in children and adolescents by psychiatric disorders. The early diagnosis of IEMs is crucial for clinical outcome and treatment. The aim of this review is to analyze the most recurrent and specific psychiatric features related to IEMs in pediatrics, based on the onset type and psychiatric phenotypes. Methods: Following the PRISMA Statement, a systematic literature review was performed using a predefined algorithm to find suitable publications in scientific databases of interest. After removing duplicates and screening titles and abstracts, suitable papers were analyzed and screened for inclusion and exclusion criteria. Finally, the data of interest were retrieved from the remaining articles. Results: The results of this study are reported by type of symptoms onset (acute and chronic) and by possible psychiatric features related to IEMs. Psychiatric phenomenology has been grouped into five main clinical manifestations: mood and anxiety disorders; schizophrenia-spectrum disorders; catatonia; eating disorders; and self-injurious behaviors. Conclusions: The inclusion of a variety of psychiatric manifestations in children and adolescents with different IEMs is a key strength of this study, which allowed us to explore the facets of seemingly different disorders in depth, avoiding possible misdiagnoses, with the related delay of early and appropriate treatments.

Postural tremor in L-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria is associated with cerebellar atrophy

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we performed analysis of brainstem reflexes and movement disorders using surface polymyogram in L-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria (L2HGA). We also reviewed all cases in the literature with detailed clinical and radiological description to analyze the anatomical correlates of involuntary movements.

PATIENTS AND METHOD

We performed surface electromyography of appropriate muscles, long-loop reflexes, and somatosensory evoked potentials and analyzed the neuroimaging findings in patients with L2HGA and recorded blink reflex (BR), auditory startle response (ASR), and startle response after somatosensory stimuli (SSS) in patients and healthy subjects. We also performed a systematic literature search to identify the association of neuroimaging findings and movements disorders in previous patients with L2HGA.

RESULTS

Thirteen patients were enrolled in the study. Among them, ten had low-amplitude postural tremor with a frequency between 4 and 7 Hz. The tremor was predominant on distal parts of the upper extremities. Postural tremor was accompanied by negative myoclonus in one-third. The BR, ASR, and SSS, all, were hypoactive. There was a close association of postural tremor with cerebellar atrophy in patients who participated in this study and by the analysis of the previously reported patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Low-amplitude postural tremor is common in L2HGA. It is related with cerebellar atrophy. Although the neuroimaging shows no overt lesions at the brainstem, there is a functional inhibition at this level.

Clinicoradiological Spectrum of L-2-Hydroxy Glutaric Aciduria: Typical and Atypical Findings in an Indian Cohort

Context:

Neurometabolic disorders form an important group of potentially treatable diseases. It is important to recognize the clinical phenotype and characteristic imaging patterns to make an early diagnosis and initiate appropriate treatment. L-2-hydroxy glutaric aciduria (L2HGA) is a rare organic aciduria with a consistent and highly characteristic imaging pattern, which clinches the diagnosis in most cases.

Aims:

The study aims to describe the clinical profile, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) patterns, and outcome in a cohort of children with L2HGA and to assess the clinicoradiological correlation.

Materials and Methods:

This is a retrospective descriptive study done at the Department of Radiodiagnosis and Neurological Sciences of our institution. Clinical and radiological findings of children diagnosed with L2HGA over an 8-year period (2010–2017) were collected and analyzed. Descriptive statistical analysis of clinical and imaging data was performed.

Results:

There were six girls and four boys. A total of 14 MRI brain studies in 10 patients with the diagnosis were analyzed. MRI of all patients showed a similar pattern with extensive confluent subcortical white-matter signal changes with symmetrical involvement of dentate nuclei and basal ganglia. In two children who presented with acute decompensation, there was asymmetric cortical involvement and restricted diffusion, which are previously unreported. There was no significant correlation between the radiological pattern with the disease duration, clinical features, or course of the disease.

Conclusion:

MRI findings in L2HGA are highly consistent and diagnostic, which helps in early diagnosis, particularly in resource-constraint settings, where detailed metabolic workup is not possible. The article also describes novel clinical radiological profile of acute encephalopathic clinical presentation.

Treatment, Therapy and Management of Metabolic Epilepsy: A Systematic Review

Metabolic epilepsy is a metabolic abnormality which is associated with an increased risk of epilepsy development in affected individuals. Commonly used antiepileptic drugs are typically ineffective against metabolic epilepsy as they do not address its root cause. Presently, there is no review available which summarizes all the treatment options for metabolic epilepsy. Thus, we systematically reviewed literature which reported on the treatment, therapy and management of metabolic epilepsy from four databases, namely PubMed, Springer, Scopus and ScienceDirect. After applying our inclusion and exclusion criteria as per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we reviewed a total of 43 articles. Based on the reviewed articles, we summarized the methods used for the treatment, therapy and management of metabolic epilepsy. These methods were tailored to address the root causes of the metabolic disturbances rather than targeting the epilepsy phenotype alone. Diet modification and dietary supplementation, alone or in combination with antiepileptic drugs, are used in tackling the different types of metabolic epilepsy. Identification, treatment, therapy and management of the underlying metabolic derangements can improve behavior, cognitive function and reduce seizure frequency and/or severity in patients.

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy for Detection of 2-Hydroxyglutarate as a Biomarker for IDH Mutation in Gliomas

Mutations in the isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)1/2 genes are highly prevalent in gliomas and have been suggested to play an important role in the development and progression of the disease. Tumours harbouring these mutations exhibit a significant alteration in their metabolism resulting in the aberrant accumulation of the oncometabolite 2-hydroxygluarate (2-HG). As well as being suggested to play an important role in tumour progression, 2-HG may serve as a surrogate indicator of IDH status through non-invasive detection using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). In this review, we describe the recent efforts in developing MRS methods for detection and quantification of 2-HG in vivo and provide an assessment of the role of the 2-HG in gliomagenesis and patient prognosis.