Publications by authors named "Ermal Aliu"

• ATS can be discovered by high-quality fetal imaging. • Postnatal genetic testing is required for confirmation of the diagnosis. • A homozygous variant in SLC2A10 (c.

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Background: The Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) is an international collaborative effort among scientists and clinicians, diagnostic and research laboratories, and the patient community. Using a standardized framework, ClinGen has established guidelines to classify gene-disease relationships as definitive, strong, moderate, and limited on the basis of available scientific and clinical evidence. When the genetic and functional evidence for a gene-disease relationship has conflicting interpretations or contradictory evidence, they can be disputed or refuted.

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Cholinergic receptor nicotinic epsilon (CHRNE) subunit mutations cause postsynaptic type of congenital myasthenic syndrome either as a primary acetylcholine-receptor deficiency or abnormal channel kinetics in the receptor. We report a novel homozygous variant (c.322C > T, p.

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Article Synopsis
  • De novo variants contribute significantly to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), but due to their rarity, understanding the full range of symptoms and genetic variations linked to specific genes like KDM6B poses a challenge.
  • The study of 85 individuals with KDM6B variants reveals that cognitive deficits are common, while features like coarse facies and skeletal issues are rare, indicating that existing descriptions may be misleading.
  • Through innovative testing methods and studies on Drosophila, the researchers highlight the critical role of KDM6B in cognitive function and the importance of international collaboration for accurate diagnosis of rare disorders.
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Medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) deficiency is the most common inherited disorder of mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) in humans. Patients exhibit clinical episodes often associated with fasting. Symptoms include hypoketotic hypoglycemia and Reye-like episodes.

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We present a case of a 4-year-old female with a de novo heterozygous variant in the ATN1 gene. The whole exome sequencing was performed on the patient and her parents, and a likely pathogenic, de novo variant was identified in exon 5 of the ATN1 gene. There are two well-documented conditions associated with the ATN1 gene: congenital hypotonia, epilepsy, developmental delay, and digital anomalies (CHEDDA) syndrome and dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA).

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Very long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (VLCAD) deficiency is an inborn error of long chain fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) with limited treatment options. Patients present with heterogeneous clinical phenotypes affecting predominantly heart, liver, and skeletal muscle. While VLCAD deficiency is a systemic disease, restoration of liver FAO has the potential to improve symptoms more broadly due to increased total body ATP production and reduced accumulation of potentially toxic metabolites.

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Background: Mutations in the DYNC1H1 gene have been linked to multiple neurologic syndromes with a multitude of clinical manifestations, both ocular and non-ocular. Previous case reports have outlined various ocular phenotypes, including cataracts of congenital onset, infantile onset, and adult onset with lack of further ophthalmologic detail.

Case Presentation: Our case report outlines, in more detail, a 24-month-old male with a heterozygous mutation in the DYNC1H1 gene who developed a white, intumescent cataract in his left eye and a posterior subcapsular cataract in his right eye with evidence of progressive axial myopia.

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Autosomal recessive intellectual developmental disorder type 5 (MRT5, OMIM # 611091) is caused by biallelic pathogenic variants, leading to loss of function of the NSUN2 gene which encodes a methyltransferase involved in several biological processes, ranging from stress response to neurodevelopment (Hussain 2021). The current literature shows that MRT5 typically manifests with intellectual disability, facial dysmorphism, juvenile cataracts, chronic nephritis, hearing impairment, seizures, cerebellar atrophy, and microcephaly (Pingree et al. 2021).

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Article Synopsis
  • A study aimed to explore how genetic diagnoses in epilepsy patients impact their clinical management and health outcomes, focusing on data from patients tested for genetic variants between 2016 and 2020.
  • The research included 418 patients, with a median age of 4 years, and found that nearly half (49.8%) experienced changes in clinical management due to genetic results, often within three months.
  • Common changes included starting new medications, referrals to specialists, and monitoring for other health issues related to the genetic findings.*
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ERI1 is an evolutionary conserved 3'-5' exonuclease with an important function in multiple RNA processing pathways. Although the molecular mechanisms in which ERI1 is involved have been studied extensively in model organisms, the pathology associated with ERI1 variants in humans has remained elusive because no case has been reported so far. Here, we present a case of a female patient with a homozygous nonsense variant in ERI1 gene.

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NDUFAF5 encodes a Complex I assembly factor which is critical to the modification of a core subunit, NDUFS7, in early Complex I factor assembly. Mutations in NDUFAF5 have been previously shown to cause Complex I deficiency leading to mitochondrial respiratory chain impairment. More than 15 individuals affected by variants in NDUFAF5 have been described; however, there is phenotypic heterogeneity within this cohort.

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Pitt Hopkins-like syndrome 1 (PTHLS1, OMIM # 610042) is an ultra-rare autosomal recessive condition with a prevalence of <1/1,000,000. Intragenic deletions of CNTNAP2 has been implicated in PTHLS1, however to our knowledge a compound heterozygous deletion of exon 4 and a c.1977_1989del13; p.

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Infection-induced acute encephalopathy 3 (IIAE3) is an autosomal dominant disease resulting from a pathogenic variant in the gene. IIAE3 results in the susceptibility to the recurrence of acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE1) which presents as bilateral symmetric thalamic, midbrain and/or hindbrain lesions that typically develops within 1-4 days post-acute viral infection, commonly occurring before age 6. These case reports highlight a retrospective analysis of clinical data and radiographic studies on 2 ANE1 cases from our institution.

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Amino acids serve as key building blocks and as an energy source for cell repair, survival, regeneration and growth. Each amino acid has an amino group, a carboxylic acid, and a unique carbon structure. Human utilize 21 different amino acids; most of these can be synthesized endogenously, but 9 are "essential" in that they must be ingested in the diet.

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Background: Wilson disease requires lifelong therapy, currently given daily in multiple divided dosages.

Aim: To prospectively evaluate once-daily trientine as therapy for Wilson disease.

Study Group: eight patients (seven males) aged 22-71 years with stable Wilson disease treated from 4 to 50 years.

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