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Multicenter Study
. 2024 Apr;65(4):1029-1045.
doi: 10.1111/epi.17876. Epub 2024 Feb 29.

Developmental epileptic encephalopathy in DLG4-related synaptopathy

Benedetta Kassabian #  1   2 Amanda M Levy #  3 Elena Gardella  1   4 Angel Aledo-Serrano  5 Amitha L Ananth  6 Alejandro J Brea-Fernández  7   8 Roseline Caumes  9 Nicolas Chatron  10   11 Alice Dainelli  12 Matthias De Wachter  13 Anne-Sophie Denommé-Pichon  14   15 Thomas J Dye  16   17 Elisa Fazzi  18   19 Roxanne Felt  20 Alberto Fernández-Jaén  21   22 Montse Fernández-Prieto  7   8 Emily Gantz  6 Piotr Gasperowicz  23 Antonio Gil-Nagel  24 David Gómez-Andrés  25 Hansel M Greiner  16   17 Renzo Guerrini  12 Maria K Haanpää  26 Minttu Helin  27 Juliane Hoyer  28 Anna C E Hurst  29 Staci Kallish  30 Shefali N Karkare  31 Amjad Khan  32   33 Lotte Kleinendorst  34   35 Johannes Koch  36 Sanjeev V Kothare  31 Suzanna M Koudijs  37   38 Lieven Lagae  39 Phillis Lakeman  34 Kathleen A Leppig  40 Gaetan Lesca  10   11 Diego Lopergolo  41   42 Laina Lusk  43 Alex Mackenzie  44   45 Davide Mei  12 Rikke S Møller  1   4 Elaine M Pereira  46 Konrad Platzer  47 Chloe Quelin  48 Anya Revah-Politi  49 Sylvain Rheims  50 Agustí Rodríguez-Palmero  51   52 Andrea Rossi  19 Filippo Santorelli  42 Syndi Seinfeld  53 Erick Sell  54 Donna Stephenson  55 Krzysztof Szczaluba  23   56 Eugen Trinka  57   58 Muhammad Umair  59   60 Hilde Van Esch  61 Mieke M van Haelst  34   35 Danielle C M Veenma  38   62 Sacha Weber  63   64 Sarah Weckhuysen  65   66 Pia Zacher  67 Zeynep Tümer #  3   68 Guido Rubboli #  1   68
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Developmental epileptic encephalopathy in DLG4-related synaptopathy

Benedetta Kassabian et al. Epilepsia. 2024 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: The postsynaptic density protein of excitatory neurons PSD-95 is encoded by discs large MAGUK scaffold protein 4 (DLG4), de novo pathogenic variants of which lead to DLG4-related synaptopathy. The major clinical features are developmental delay, intellectual disability (ID), hypotonia, sleep disturbances, movement disorders, and epilepsy. Even though epilepsy is present in 50% of the individuals, it has not been investigated in detail. We describe here the phenotypic spectrum of epilepsy and associated comorbidities in patients with DLG4-related synaptopathy.

Methods: We included 35 individuals with a DLG4 variant and epilepsy as part of a multicenter study. The DLG4 variants were detected by the referring laboratories. The degree of ID, hypotonia, developmental delay, and motor disturbances were evaluated by the referring clinician. Data on awake and sleep electroencephalography (EEG) and/or video-polygraphy and brain magnetic resonance imaging were collected. Antiseizure medication response was retrospectively assessed by the referring clinician.

Results: A large variety of seizure types was reported, although focal seizures were the most common. Encephalopathy related to status epilepticus during slow-wave sleep (ESES)/developmental epileptic encephalopathy with spike-wave activation during sleep (DEE-SWAS) was diagnosed in >25% of the individuals. All but one individual presented with neurodevelopmental delay. Regression in verbal and/or motor domains was observed in all individuals who suffered from ESES/DEE-SWAS, as well as some who did not. We could not identify a clear genotype-phenotype relationship even between individuals with the same DLG4 variants.

Significance: Our study shows that a subgroup of individuals with DLG4-related synaptopathy have DEE, and approximately one fourth of them have ESES/DEE-SWAS. Our study confirms DEE as part of the DLG4-related phenotypic spectrum. Occurrence of ESES/DEE-SWAS in DLG4-related synaptopathy requires proper investigation with sleep EEG.

Keywords: DEE‐SWAS; ESES; PSD‐95; SHINE syndrome; epilepsy.

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References

REFERENCES

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