L-2 hydroxyglutaric aciduria: report of a Mexican-Mayan patient with the mutation c.569C>T and response to vitamin supplements and levocarnitine

Background

L-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria (L2HGA) is a rare inherited autosomal recessive neurometabolic disorder caused by pathogenic variants in the L2HGDH gene which encodes mitochondrial 2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase. Here, we report a case of L2HGA in a Mexican-Mayan patient with a homozygous mutation at L2HGDH gene and clinical response to vitamin supplements and levocarnitine.

Case report

A 17-year-old, right-handed female patient with long-term history of seizures, developmental delay and ataxia was referred to a movement disorders specialist for the evaluation of tremor. Her brain MRI showed typical findings of L2HGA. The diagnosis was corroborated with elevated levels of 2-hydroxyglutaric acid in urine and genetic test which revealed a homozygous genetic known variant c.569C>T in exon 5 of L2HGDH gene. She was treated with levocarnitine and vitamin supplements, showing improvement in tremor and gait.

Discussion

To our knowledge this is the first report of a Mexican patient with L2HGA. This case adds information about a rare condition in a different ethnic group and supports the findings of other authors which encountered symptomatic improvement with the use of flavin adenine dinucleotide (and its precursor riboflavin), and levocarnitine.

Highlights

We report the first case of Mexican-Mayan patient with L2HGA showing a missense homozygous mutation in L2HGDH gene, and improvement of symptoms with vitamin supplements and levocarnitine.

Impact of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms on the Quality of Life of Subjects with Parkinson's Disease

BACKGROUND

Neuropsychiatric symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) are frequent. Impact of neuropsychiatric symptoms on quality of life has recently become a relevant topic of research due to its potential to develop targeted therapies to improve quality of life.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the impact of neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with PD using the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire Short Form (PDQ-8).

METHODS

Consecutive patients with PD were evaluated with the Scale for Evaluation of Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Parkinson's disease (SEND-PD) and PDQ-8 scales separately. Association between neuropsychiatric symptoms and quality of life was explored using, means comparisons, correlation coefficients and multiple regression models.

RESULTS

A total of 492 patients were included for the study. Overall, 44.5% had psychotic symptoms, 76.5% had alterations on mood/apathy domains, and 27% had an impulse control disorder. All neuropsychiatric symptoms had an effect on the PDQ-8 with a moderate to large effect size. Correlation coefficients ranged from 0.17 to 0.63 between neuropsychiatric symptoms and quality of life (p <  0.001, in all cases). The regression model showed that mood/apathy alterations and impulse control disorders, along with MDS-UPDRS III accounted for 49.8% of variance in the PDQ-8 simplified index (F = 122.98; p <  0.001). Mood/apathy alterations showed the highest correlation coefficient (0.63, p <  0.001) and β (0.53, p <  0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Both the presence and severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms, in particular mood/apathy alterations,had a significant impact on quality of life in subjects with PD.

Convergent validation of EQ-5D-5L in patients with Parkinson's disease

INTRODUCTION

The European Quality of Life Questionnaire 5 level version (EQ-5D-5L) is a recently updated instrument to assess Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) that has not been validated extensively. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the internal consistency and convergent validation of the EQ-5D-5L in a large sample of subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD).

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was carried out. Consecutive Mexican subjects with PD were included. HRQoL was assessed using the EQ-5D-5L and the PDQ-8. Validity of the EQ-5D-5L was assessed determining its association with clinical ratings of disease severity, as well as correlation with PDQ-8. Additionally, performance was evaluated along predefined groups based on clinical and demographic data of known determinants of quality of life.

RESULTS

A total of 585 patients were included for this study. A strong correlation was found between EQ-5D-5L index and PDQ-8 index (Spearman's correlation coefficient=-0.75; p<0.001). Correlation between EQ-5D-5L index and PDQ-8 index remained strong (-0.60 to -0.78; p values <0.001) through all predefined groups. EQ-5D-5L scored higher in those patients with dyskinesia, wearing off, freezing, postural instability, cognitive impairment or depressive mood (p values <0.001).

CONCLUSION

The EQ-5D-5L is a valid instrument for evaluating HRQoL in PD, performing adequately irrespective of heterogeneous clinical and demographic characteristics, and showing to be sensitive to features of advanced disease and treatment complications.

Plasma cell tumor of the clivus: report of two cases

BACKGROUND

Plasma cell tumor only rarely affects the cranium and may be found as an isolated lesion or as a part of multiple myeloma. In this review we present the clinical and radiological characteristics and analyze the evolution of two cases of this tumor located at the skull base, specifically in the clivus and sellar region. We also present a brief review of the literature.

CLINICAL CASES

Case #1: The patient was a 66-year-old female with a solitary plasmacytoma of the bone (the isolated form of plasma cell tumor) that was totally removed. Case #2: The patient was a 61-year-old male with the diffuse form of this disease who was submitted to subtotal removal. In both patients, adjuvant treatment based on radiotherapy and chemotherapy was proposed; however, only one patient (Case #2) accepted adjuvant treatment and had a very favorable result. Most clinical symptoms disappeared and the patient is currently alive and with a very good quality of life (>3-year follow-up). The other patient (Case #1), despite the presence of the localized form of the disease, died 3 months after diagnosis.

CONCLUSION

Early diagnosis and removal of as much of the tumor as possible, but mainly the opportune indication of adjuvant treatment with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, are the keys to management of these cases.