Pitt-Hopkins syndrome (PTHS) is characterized by significant developmental delays with moderate-to-severe intellectual disability and behavioral differences, characteristic facial features, and episodic hyperventilation and/or breath-holding while awake. Speech is significantly delayed and most individuals are nonverbal with receptive language often stronger than expressive language. Other common findings are autism spectrum disorder symptoms, sleep disturbance, stereotypic hand movements, seizures, constipation, and severe myopia.

The defining clinical characteristics of the microcephaly-capillary malformation (MIC-CAP) syndrome are typically present at birth: microcephaly and generalized cutaneous capillary malformations (a few to hundreds of oval/circular macules or patches varying in size from 1-2 mm to several cm), hypoplastic distal phalanges of the hands and/or feet, early-onset intractable epilepsy, and profound developmental delay. Seizures, which can be focal, tonic, and complex partial and can include infantile spasms, appear to stabilize after age two years. Myoclonus of the limbs and eyelids is common; other abnormal movements (dyskinetic, choreiform) may be seen. To date, the diagnosis has been confirmed in 18 individuals from 15 families.

Band heterotopia (BH) is a neuronal migration disorder in which aberrantly located neurons, in the form of a band in the brain white matter, are present below a cortex that appears relatively normal by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Clinically, patients show severe developmental delay with intellectual disability, seizures, hypotonia, and hydrocephalus (Kielar et al., 2014, Shaheen et al., 2017).

Combined immunodeficiency and megaloblastic anemia with or without hyperhomocysteinemia is an inborn error of folate metabolism due to deficiency of methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase-1. Manifestations may include hemolytic uremic syndrome, macrocytosis, epilepsy, hearing loss, retinopathy, mild mental retardation, lymphopenia involving all subsets, and low T-cell receptor excision circles. Folinic acid supplementation is an effective treatment (summary by Ramakrishnan et al., 2016).

Pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 13 (PCH13) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by global developmental delay, impaired intellectual development with absent speech, microcephaly, and progressive atrophy of the cerebellar vermis and brainstem. Additional features, including seizures and visual impairment, are variable (summary by Uwineza et al., 2019). For a general phenotypic description and a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of PCH, see PCH1A (607596).

SCN1A seizure disorders encompass a spectrum that ranges from simple febrile seizures and generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) at the mild end to Dravet syndrome and intractable childhood epilepsy with generalized tonic-clonic seizures (ICE-GTC) at the severe end. Phenotypes with intractable seizures including Dravet syndrome are often associated with cognitive decline. Less commonly observed phenotypes include myoclonic astatic epilepsy (MAE), Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, infantile spasms, epilepsy with focal seizures, and vaccine-related encephalopathy and seizures. The phenotype of SCN1A seizure disorders can vary even within the same family.

Neurodevelopmental disorder with seizures and brain abnormalities (NEDSBA) is an autosomal recessive neurologic disorder characterized by global developmental delay and onset of seizures in the first months of life associated with structural brain defects on brain imaging. Additional features may include pigmentary retinopathy with poor visual fixation and spasticity (summary by Duncan et al., 2021).

Developmental and epileptic encephalopathy-99 (DEE99) is characterized by onset of seizures in early childhood associated with global developmental delay and severely impaired intellectual development. Other features may include hypotonia, quadriparesis, nystagmus, and apnea. Brain imaging may be normal or show nonspecific and variable abnormalities, including cerebral atrophy and polymicrogyria. The severity is variable; some patients die of refractory status epilepticus (summary by Vetro et al., 2021). For a general phenotypic description and a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of DEE, see 308350.