GNA11 brain somatic pathogenic variant in an individual with phacomatosis pigmentovascularis.

Objective: To describe the findings of histopathology and genotyping studies in affected brain tissue from an individual with phacomatosis pigmentovascularis (PPV).
Methods: A retrospective chart review of a 2-year 10-month-old male with a clinical diagnosis of PPV cesiomarmorata (or type V) was performed. Clinical features, brain imaging and histopathology findings, and genotyping studies in his affected brain tissue are summarized.
Results: The proband had a clinically severe neurologic phenotype characterized by global developmental delay, generalized hypotonia, and recurrent episodes of cardiac asystole in the setting of status epilepticus. A somatic pathogenic variant in GNA11 (c.547C>T, p.Arg183Cys) was detected in his skin tissue but not in blood (previously published). He underwent an urgent left posterior quadrantectomy for his life-threatening seizures. Histopathology of resected brain tissue showed an increase in leptomeningeal melanocytes and abnormal vasculature, and the exact pathogenic variant in GNA11 (c.547C>T, p.Arg183Cys), previously isolated from his skin tissue but not blood, was detected in his resected brain tissue.
Conclusions: The finding of this variant in affected skin and brain tissue of our patient with PPV supports a unifying genetic diagnosis of his neurocutaneous features.
(Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology.)