Autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia, deafness, and narcolepsy
Last updated 18 Aug 2020
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Autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia, deafness, and narcolepsy (ADCADN) is a nervous system disorder with signs and symptoms that usually begin in mid-adulthood and gradually get worse.
Description
Autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia, deafness, and narcolepsy (ADCADN) is a nervous system disorder with signs and symptoms that usually begin in mid-adulthood and gradually get worse.
People with ADCADN have difficulty coordinating movements (ataxia) and mild to moderate hearing loss caused by abnormalities of the inner ear (sensorineural deafness). Most have excessive daytime sleepiness (narcolepsy). Narcolepsy is typically accompanied by cataplexy, which is a sudden brief loss of muscle tone in response to strong emotion (such as excitement, surprise, or anger). These episodes of muscle weakness can cause an affected person to slump over or fall, which occasionally leads to injury. These characteristic signs and symptoms of ADCADN typically begin in a person's thirties.
Eventually, people with ADCADN also experience a decline of intellectual function (dementia). The cognitive problems often begin with impairment of executive function, which is the ability to plan and implement actions and develop problem-solving strategies. Other features that can occur as the condition worsens include degeneration of the nerves that carry information from the eyes to the brain (optic atrophy); clouding of the lenses of the eyes (cataracts); numbness, tingling, or pain in the arms and legs (sensory neuropathy); puffiness or swelling (lymphedema) of the limbs; an inability to control the bowels or the flow of urine (incontinence); depression; uncontrollable crying or laughing (pseudobulbar signs); or a distorted view of reality (psychosis). Affected individuals usually survive into their forties or fifties.
Inheritance patterns
The source lists the following possible inheritance patterns: Autosomal dominant. More than one pattern can apply in different cases.
Related genes
Other names
ADCA-DN syndrome
ADCADN
Autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia-deafness-narcolepsy syndrome
Cerebellar ataxia, deafness, and narcolepsy, autosomal dominant
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Further reading and references
- Autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia, deafness, and narcolepsy; MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine.
- Baets J, Duan X, Wu Y, Smith G, Seeley WW, Mademan I, McGrath NM, Beadell NC, Khoury J, Botuyan MV, Mer G, Worrell GA, Hojo K, DeLeon J, Laura M, Liu YT, Senderek J, Weis J, Van den Bergh P, Merrill SL, Reilly MM, Houlden H, Grossman M, Scherer SS, De Jonghe P, Dyck PJ, Klein CJ. Defects of mutant DNMT1 are linked to a spectrum of neurological disorders. Brain. 2015 Apr;138(Pt 4):845-61. doi: 10.1093/brain/awv010. Epub 2015 Feb 11.
- Kernohan KD, Cigana Schenkel L, Huang L, Smith A, Pare G, Ainsworth P; Care4Rare Canada Consortium; Boycott KM, Warman-Chardon J, Sadikovic B. Identification of a methylation profile for DNMT1-associated autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia, deafness, and narcolepsy. Clin Epigenetics. 2016 Sep 5;8(1):91. doi: 10.1186/s13148-016-0254-x. eCollection 2016.
- Moghadam KK, Pizza F, La Morgia C, Franceschini C, Tonon C, Lodi R, Barboni P, Seri M, Ferrari S, Liguori R, Donadio V, Parchi P, Cornelio F, Inzitari D, Mignarri A, Capocchi G, Dotti MT, Winkelmann J, Lin L, Mignot E, Carelli V, Plazzi G. Narcolepsy is a common phenotype in HSAN IE and ADCA-DN. Brain. 2014 Jun;137(Pt 6):1643-55. doi: 10.1093/brain/awu069. Epub 2014 Apr 10.
- Walker LA, Bourque P, Smith AM, Warman Chardon J. Autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia, deafness, and narcolepsy (ADCA-DN) associated with progressive cognitive and behavioral deterioration. Neuropsychology. 2017 Mar;31(3):292-303. doi: 10.1037/neu0000322. Epub 2016 Nov 21.
- Winkelmann J, Lin L, Schormair B, Kornum BR, Faraco J, Plazzi G, Melberg A, Cornelio F, Urban AE, Pizza F, Poli F, Grubert F, Wieland T, Graf E, Hallmayer J, Strom TM, Mignot E. Mutations in DNMT1 cause autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia, deafness and narcolepsy. Hum Mol Genet. 2012 May 15;21(10):2205-10. doi: 10.1093/hmg/dds035. Epub 2012 Feb 9.
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