Cerebral creatine deficiency disorders - A clinical, genetic and follow up study from India

Abstract

Introduction: Cerebral creatine deficiency syndromes (CCDS) are a group of potentially treatable neurometabolic disorders. The clinical, genetic profile and follow up outcome of Indian CCDS patients is presented.

Materials and methods: This was a retrospective cohort of CCDS patients seen over six-years. Diagnosis was based either on low creatine peak on proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and/or genetic evaluation.

Results: Thirteen patients were eligible [8 creatine transporter deficiency (CTD), 4 guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency and 1 could not be classified]. The mean (±SD) age at diagnosis was 7.2(±5.0) years. Clinical manifestations included intellectual disability (ID) with significant expressive speech delay in all. Most had significant behavior issues (8/13) and/or autism (8/13). All had history of convulsive seizures (11/13 had epilepsy; 2 patients only had febrile seizures) and 2/13 had movement disorder. Constipation was the commonest non-neurological manifestation (5/13 patients). Cranial MRI was normal in all CTD patients but showed globus pallidus hyperintensity in all four with GAMT deficiency. MRS performed in 11/13 patients, revealed abnormally low creatine peak. A causative genetic variant (novel mutation in nine) was identified in 12 patients. Three GAMT deficiency and one CTD patient reported neurodevelopmental improvement and good seizure control after creatine supplementation.

Conclusion: Intellectual disability, disproportionate speech delay, autism, and epilepsy, were common in our CCDS patients. A normal structural neuroimaging with easily controlled febrile and/or afebrile seizures differentiated CTD from GAMT deficiency patients who had abnormal neuroimaging and often difficult to control epilepsy and movement disorder.

Keywords: Cerebral creatine deficiency disorders; Clinical profile; Follow-up; Genetics; Indian.