Novel presentations associated with a PDHA1 variant - Alternating hemiplegia in Hemizygote proband and Guillain Barre Syndrome in Heterozygote mother

Abstract

We report a 5-year-old male with a PDHA1 variant who presented with alternating hemiplegia of childhood and later developed developmental regression, basal ganglia injury and episodic lactic acidosis. Enzyme assay in lymphocytes confirmed a diagnosis of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex (PDC) deficiency. His mother who was heterozygous for the same variant suffered from ophthalmoplegia, chronic migraine and developed flaccid paralysis at 36 years of age. PDHA1 is the most common genetic cause of PDC deficiency and presents with a myriad of neurological phenotypes including neonatal form with lactic acidosis, non-progressive infantile encephalopathy, Leigh syndrome subtype and intermittent ataxia. The presentations in our 2 patients contribute to the clinical heterogeneity of this neurogenetic condition.

Figure 1:

DTI axial sequence showing acute metabolic stroke in bilateral globus pallidi (Leigh- like)