Aicardi-Goutières syndrome: a family case due to alteration of the RNASEH2B gene
*Correspondencia: Dr. Diego Viguera Elías. Servicio de Pediatría y Neonatología. Hospital San Pedro. Calle Piqueras, 98. E-26006 Logroño, La Rioja.
E-mail: dviguera@riojasalud.es
Introduction: Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome is a progressive encephalopathy with onset in the first year of life that conditions psychomotor retardation, microcephaly and pyramidal dysfunction. It has a prevalence of 1-5 in 10,000 newly live births. Most cases have autosomal recessive transmission, due to alteration in seven genes involved in the metabolism of interferon, which causes an increase in its levels in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid, and affects the brain (leukodystrophy, corticosubcortical atrophy, calcifications in the basal ganglia…), the skin and the immune system.
Clinical case: They are two brothers who present the homozygous p.Ala177Thr variant in the RNASEH2B gene; both of them parents, consanguineous, are carriers. The first sibling started at 10 months with axial hypotonia, hypertonia of the extremities, psychomotor regression and dystonic movements. The second brother presented from the birth low axial tone with hypertonia of the extremities, at 4 months calcifications were found in the nuclei lenticulostriated by transfontalar ultrasound and, at 6 months, she started dystonic movements and intermittent nystagmus. Both have developed spastic tetraparesis and remain stable at 8 and 10 years, despite complications typical of the syndrome.
Conclusions: The Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome is a rare entity that should be taken into account in situations that occur with altered psychomotor development and intracranial calcifications; we highlight the importance of diagnosis both to know the prognosis of our patients based on their genetic alteration and to offer genetic counseling to their families.
Caso clínico Se trata de dos hermanos que presentan la variante p.Ala177Thr en homocigosis en el gen RNASEH2B; ambos progenitores, consanguíneos, son portadores. El primer hermano comenzó a los 10 meses con hipotonía axial, hipertonía de las extremidades, regresión psicomotriz y movimientos distónicos. El segundo hermano presentó desde el nacimiento tono axial bajo con hipertonía de las extremidades, a los 4 meses se hallaron calcificaciones en los núcleos lenticuloestriados mediante ecografía transfontalar y a los 6 meses inició movimientos distónicos y nistagmo intermitente. Ambos han desarrollado tetraparesia espástica y permanecen estables con 8 y 10 años, pese a las complicaciones propias del síndrome.
Conclusiones El síndrome de Aicardi-Goutières es una entidad rara que debe tenerse presente ante situaciones que cursen con alteración del desarrollo psicomotor y calcificaciones intracraneales; destacamos la importancia del diagnóstico genético tanto para conocer el pronóstico de nuestros pacientes en función de su alteración genética como para ofrecer consejo genético a sus familias.