Publications by authors named "Solveig Heide"

Generation and subsequently accessibility of secondary findings (SF) in diagnostic practice is a subject of debate around the world and particularly in Europe. The French FIND study has been set up to assess patient/parent expectations regarding SF from exome sequencing (ES) and to collect their real-life experience until 1 year after the delivery of results. 340 patients who had ES for undiagnosed developmental disorders were included in this multicenter mixed study (quantitative N = 340; qualitative N = 26).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Central nervous system (CNS) dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVF) have been reported in PTEN-related hamartoma tumor syndrome (PHTS). However, PHTS-associated DAVF remain an underexplored field of the PHTS clinical landscape. Here, we studied cases with a PTEN pathogenic variant identified between 2007 and 2020 in our laboratory (n = 58), and for whom brain imaging was available.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: Neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders have long been considered as different clinical and molecular entities, and only a few genes are known to be involved in both processes. The (interferon regulatory factor 2 binding protein like) gene was implicated in a severe pediatric phenotype characterized by developmental and epileptic encephalopathy and early regression. In parallel, inherited variants have been reported in cohorts of patients with late-onset progressive dystonic and ataxic syndrome with few information about the neurodevelopment of these patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Coffin-Siris syndrome (CSS) is a rare multisystemic autosomal dominant disorder. Since 2012, alterations in genes of the SWI/SNF complex were identified as the molecular basis of CSS, studying largely pediatric cohorts. Therefore, there is a lack of information on the phenotype in adulthood, particularly on the clinical outcome in adulthood and associated risks.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The Aristaless-related homeobox gene on the X chromosome is crucial for brain development, with well-documented disorders in males, but less clear effects in females, who are often asymptomatic.
  • - This study examined 10 unpublished female patients with new pathogenic variants and reviewed 63 previously documented cases, revealing a diverse clinical spectrum among females with these variants.
  • - Findings indicated that 42.5% of female carriers are asymptomatic, while 41% exhibit severe symptoms like intellectual disability or developmental conditions, with a higher prevalence of severe phenotypes in those with de novo variants compared to inherited ones.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: BCL11B-related disorder (BCL11B-RD) arises from rare genetic variants within the BCL11B gene, resulting in a distinctive clinical spectrum encompassing syndromic neurodevelopmental disorder, with or without intellectual disability, associated with facial features and impaired immune function. This study presents an in-depth clinico-biological analysis of 20 newly reported individuals with BCL11B-RD, coupled with a characterization of genome-wide DNA methylation patterns of this genetic condition.

Methods: Through an international collaboration, clinical and molecular data from 20 individuals were systematically gathered, and a comparative analysis was conducted between this series and existing literature.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates anomalies of the corpus callosum (ACC), a common brain malformation, highlighting that the genetic causes of ACC without intellectual disability (ID) are not well understood.
  • Researchers identified a new dominant gene associated with ACC, reporting on nine individuals with a specific genetic variant linked to both familial inheritance and normal cognitive function.
  • Findings indicate that this gene may lead to ACC while maintaining normal intellectual abilities, suggesting a broader range of physical malformations associated with it beyond just eye conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Most variants of the SMARCC1 gene are loss of function (LoF) and typically passed down from unaffected parents, suggesting incomplete penetrance.
  • * This research presents the first antenatal cases of SMARCC1 LoF variants found through Whole Genome Sequencing, highlighting the challenges in diagnosis and genetic counseling due to its inheritance patterns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to compare imaging and genetic findings in fetuses with corpus callosum abnormalities identified through prenatal exome sequencing (pES) between 2018 and 2020.
  • A total of 113 fetuses were included, revealing pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) genetic variants in certain types of abnormalities, with significant findings in cases with associated cerebellar issues.
  • The results indicated that P/LP variants were more common in non-isolated conditions and certain types of callosal dysgenesis, but no variants were found for isolated short CC, interhemispheric cysts, or pericallosal lipoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Patients with rare or ultra-rare genetic diseases, which affect 350 million people worldwide, may experience a diagnostic odyssey. High-throughput sequencing leads to an etiological diagnosis in up to 50% of individuals with heterogeneous neurodevelopmental or malformation disorders. There is a growing interest in additional omics technologies in translational research settings to examine the remaining unsolved cases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Low uptake of presymptomatic testing and medically assisted reproduction in families impacted by neurogenetic diseases prompted us to investigate how reproductive options are considered and whether there is a relationship with perceived severity of the disease. We hypothesised that self-estimated severity would influence opinion on reproductive options and that prenatal/preimplantation diagnosis would be a motivation to inform relatives about their risk.

Methods: We invited people impacted by neurogenetic diseases to evaluate the severity of their familial disease using analogic visual scales and to answer questionnaires about reproductive choices and intrafamilial communication.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Nonmuscle myosin II complexes are master regulators of actin dynamics that play essential roles during embryogenesis with vertebrates possessing 3 nonmuscle myosin II heavy chain genes, MYH9, MYH10, and MYH14. As opposed to MYH9 and MYH14, no recognizable disorder has been associated with MYH10. We sought to define the clinical characteristics and molecular mechanism of a novel autosomal dominant disorder related to MYH10.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • BRD4 is crucial for loading the cohesin complex onto DNA, which is essential for processes like loop extrusion and the formation of Topologically Associating Domains, and mutations in this complex can lead to conditions known as cohesinopathies, including Cornelia de Lange syndrome.
  • An international study was conducted to analyze clinical and genetic data from 14 new patients with BRD4-related disorders, including two fetuses, combining prenatal findings with information from pediatric and adult cases.
  • The study identifies distinct dysmorphic features associated with BRD4-related disorders and expands the understanding of cohesinopathies, providing a new pattern that differs from existing classifications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome (WDSTS) is an intellectual disability condition with features like short stature and hypertrichosis cubiti, caused by mutations in a specific gene.
  • The syndrome can present with a wide range of symptoms, making diagnosis challenging, especially in less typical cases.
  • Researchers identified a unique DNA methylation episignature in patients, which can help classify genetic variants related to WDSTS and potentially provide better diagnostic insight and understanding of the syndrome's molecular causes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Biallelic loss-of-function variants in ST3GAL5 cause GM3 synthase deficiency (GM3SD) responsible for Amish infantile epilepsy syndrome. All Amish patients carry the homozygous p.(Arg288Ter) variant arising from a founder effect.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Inverted duplication deletion 8p (invdupdel(8p)) is a rare genetic condition linked to developmental delays and intellectual disabilities, often presenting with brain abnormalities.
  • A study analyzed 36 new cases, revealing that 97% of patients experienced developmental issues, with a significant number also suffering from seizures.
  • By comparing this data with 99 previously reported cases, researchers identified a specific 5.1 Mb region in chromosome 8 associated with abnormalities of the corpus callosum, offering insights into potential genetic factors involved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Terminal deletions of the long arm of chromosome 7 are well known and frequently associated with syndromic holoprosencephaly due to the involvement of the SHH (aliases HHG1, SMMCI, TPT, TPTPS, and MCOPCB5) gene region. However, interstitial deletions including CNTNAP2 (aliases Caspr2, KIAA0868, and NRXN4) and excluding the SHH region are less common.

Methods: We report the clinical and molecular characterization associated with pure 7q35 and 7q35q36.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The phenotypic spectrum of STXBP1-related encephalopathy ranges from infantile epileptic encephalopathy to intellectual disability with nonsyndromic or absent epilepsy. Although being frequently reported, the tremor associated with STXBP1 has not been fully characterized to date. The aim of our study was to describe it.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Variants in have recently been reported to cause a neurodevelopmental disorder with hypotonia, seizures and impaired language; however, only six variants have been reported and the clinical characteristics have only broadly been defined.

Methods: Molecular and clinical data were collected from clinical and research cohorts. Massive parallel sequencing was performed and identified individuals with a related neurodevelopmental disorder.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Rare genetic variants in KDR, encoding the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), have been reported in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). However, their role in disease causality and pathogenesis remains unclear.

Methods: We conducted exome sequencing in a familial case of TOF and large-scale genetic studies, including burden testing, in >1,500 patients with TOF.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To investigate the effect of PLXNA1 variants on the phenotype of patients with autosomal dominant and recessive inheritance patterns and to functionally characterize the zebrafish homologs plxna1a and plxna1b during development.

Methods: We assembled ten patients from seven families with biallelic or de novo PLXNA1 variants. We describe genotype-phenotype correlations, investigated the variants by structural modeling, and used Morpholino knockdown experiments in zebrafish to characterize the embryonic role of plxna1a and plxna1b.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Proline Rich 12 (PRR12) is a gene of unknown function with suspected DNA-binding activity, expressed in developing mice and human brains. Predicted loss-of-function variants in this gene are extremely rare, indicating high intolerance of haploinsufficiency.

Methods: Three individuals with intellectual disability and iris anomalies and truncating de novo PRR12 variants were described previously.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Witteveen-Kolk syndrome (OMIM 613406) is a recently defined neurodevelopmental syndrome caused by heterozygous loss-of-function variants in SIN3A. We define the clinical and neurodevelopmental phenotypes related to SIN3A-haploinsufficiency in 28 unreported patients. Patients with SIN3A variants adversely affecting protein function have mild intellectual disability, growth and feeding difficulties.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF