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Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is the second most common lethal autosomal recessive disorder of childhood, affecting approximately 1 in 6,000-10,000 births, with a carrier frequency of 1 in 40-60. There is no effective cure or treatment for this disease. Thus, the availability of prenatal testing is important. The aim of this study was to establish an efficient and rapid method for prenatal diagnosis of SMA and genetic counseling in families with risk for having a child with SMA. In this paper we present the results from prenatal diagnosis in Macedonian SMA families using direct analysis of fetal DNA. The probands of these families were previously found to be homozygous for a deletion of exons 7 and 8 of SMN1 gene. DNA obtained from chorionic villas samples and amniocytes was analyzed for deletions in SMN gene. SMN exon 7 and 8 deletion analysis was performed by polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR/RFLP). Of the 12 prenatal diagnoses, DNA analysis showed normal results in eight fetuses. Four of the fetuses were homozygote for a deletion of exons 7 and 8 of SMN1. After genetic counseling, the parents of the eight normal fetuses decided to continue the pregnancy, while in the four families with affected fetuses, the pregnancy was terminated. The results were confirmed after birth.

Progressive signs of ataxia in a eight years old girl prompted neurological investigation. The girl had unstable gait with incoordination of limb movements, impairment of position and vibratory senses, dysarthria, pes cavus, positive Babinski sign and scoliosis. At the age of fourteen the girl was referred in a comatose condition, in a severe diabetic ketoacidosis. Ataxia and hypoactive knee and ankle jerks prompted the analysis of the frataxin gene (FXN; 606829). The most common molecular abnormality: GAA trinucleotide repeat expansion in intron 1 was found with + 300 GAA repeats (1490bp) (normal individuals have 5 to 30 GAA repeat expansions, whereas affected individuals have from 70 to more than 1,000 GAA triplets). Electrocardiogram showed diffuse T wave inversion with sinus bradycardia, while ultrasound revealed concentric, symmetric hypertrophy of left ventricle leading to the diagnosis of hyperthrophic cardiomyopathy. At the age of 14 years, the patient was bound to the wheel-chair, unable to walk. Her brother started to show ataxia at the age of 8 years, and subsequent analysis showed hyperthrophic cardiomyopathy, too. His mutational analysis revealed the same frataxin abnormality, with + 300 GAA repeats. So far, no signs of diabetes occurred. The parents are heterozygous with FXN of 9 -10 GAA (490 bp). Both children received a beta blocker, while the girl’s diabetes mellitus was treated by insulin preparations. This is a report of two siblings with Fridreich ataxia and hyperthrophic cardiomyopathy. In addition, the girl developed type 1 diabetes mellitus.

• A group of 172 epileptic children who had had prior febrile convulsions was compared with a group of 674 who had not. Children with epilepsy and prior febrile convulsions were similar in some respects (sex ratio, positive family history for seizures) to children with pure febrile convulsions and in most respects (type of epilepsy, mental status, initial EEG, and two- and four-year remission rates in the long-term outcome) to epileptic children without prior febrile convulsions. Our data do not support the current view that febrile convulsions, per se, are the main cause of mesial temporal sclerosis, ie, temporal lobe epilepsy. Thus, our clinical findings support previously expressed doubts on the role of febrile seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy that were based on pathohistologic findings. (Am J Dis Child1983;137:123-126)