Variable Phenotypes in the Same Patient with PRRT2-Associated Disorders

Abstract

Mutations in the PRRT2 gene lead to a spectrum of diseases with a common pathophysiology including self-limited (familial) infantile epilepsy and paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia as well as other paroxysmal diseases involving movement and headache disorders. Atypical phenotypes, associated with episodic ataxia, epilepsy, hemiplegic migraine, developmental delay, and intellectual disability, have been reported in approximately 5% of the patients, which is probably an underestimation. Here, we present three patients with variable PRRT2 phenotypes in each patient. In the first two patients, the manifestations were characterized by episodes of nonepileptic paroxysms and focal seizures starting in the first years of life with good response to carbamazepine. One of them had no family history either of epilepsy or nonepileptic motor manifestations. The other patient simultaneously developed epileptic spasms. Neurodevelopment was normal in both. The third patient presented with early-onset focal epilepsy that was resistant to antiseizure medications and evolved to spike-wave activation in sleep associated with cognitive impairment and ataxia. In this patient, in addition to the mutation in the PRRT2 gene, a novel pathogenic SCN1A variant was identified. The distinct clinical presentations in the same patient observed in our cases confirm the broad spectrum of PRRT2-associated diseases.