Carnitine palmitoyltransferase II (CPT II) deficiency is a disorder of long-chain fatty-acid oxidation. The three clinical presentations are lethal neonatal form, severe infantile hepatocardiomuscular form, and myopathic form (which is usually mild and can manifest from infancy to adulthood). While the former two are severe multisystemic diseases characterized by liver failure with hypoketotic hypoglycemia, cardiomyopathy, seizures, and early death, the latter is characterized by exercise-induced muscle pain and weakness, sometimes associated with myoglobinuria. The myopathic form of CPT II deficiency is the most common disorder of lipid metabolism affecting skeletal muscle and the most frequent cause of hereditary myoglobinuria. Males are more likely to be affected than females.

The spectrum of DCTN1-related neurodegeneration includes Perry syndrome, distal hereditary motor neuronopathy type 7B (dHMN7B), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), motor neuron disease / amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and progressive supranuclear palsy. Some individuals present with overlapping phenotypes (e.g., FTD-ALS, Perry syndrome-dHMN7B). Perry syndrome (the most common of the phenotypes associated with DCTN1) is characterized by parkinsonism, neuropsychiatric symptoms, hypoventilation, and weight loss. The mean age of onset in those with Perry syndrome is 49 years (range: 35-70 years), and the mean disease duration is five years (range: 2-14 years). In most affected persons, the reported cause/circumstance of death relates to sudden death/hypoventilation or suicide.

Hereditary hyperekplexia may explain some cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which is a major cause of unexplained death in babies younger than 1 year.\n\nThe signs and symptoms of hereditary hyperekplexia typically fade by age 1. However, older individuals with hereditary hyperekplexia may still startle easily and have periods of rigidity, which can cause them to fall down. They may also continue to have hypnagogic myoclonus or movements during sleep. As they get older, individuals with this condition may have a low tolerance for crowded places and loud noises. People with hereditary hyperekplexia who have epilepsy have the seizure disorder throughout their lives.\n\nOther signs and symptoms of hereditary hyperekplexia can include muscle twitches when falling asleep (hypnagogic myoclonus) and movements of the arms or legs while asleep. Some infants, when tapped on the nose, extend their head forward and have spasms of the limb and neck muscles. Rarely, infants with hereditary hyperekplexia experience recurrent seizures (epilepsy).\n\nHereditary hyperekplexia is a condition in which affected infants have increased muscle tone (hypertonia) and an exaggerated startle reaction to unexpected stimuli, especially loud noises. Following the startle reaction, infants experience a brief period in which they are very rigid and unable to move. During these rigid periods, some infants stop breathing, which, if prolonged, can be fatal. Infants with hereditary hyperekplexia have hypertonia at all times, except when they are sleeping.

Deficiency of very long-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase (VLCAD), which catalyzes the initial step of mitochondrial beta-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids with a chain length of 14 to 20 carbons, is associated with three phenotypes. The severe early-onset cardiac and multiorgan failure form typically presents in the first months of life with hypertrophic or dilated cardiomyopathy, pericardial effusion, and arrhythmias, as well as hypotonia, hepatomegaly, and intermittent hypoglycemia. The hepatic or hypoketotic hypoglycemic form typically presents during early childhood with hypoketotic hypoglycemia and hepatomegaly, but without cardiomyopathy. The later-onset episodic myopathic form presents with intermittent rhabdomyolysis provoked by exercise, muscle cramps and/or pain, and/or exercise intolerance. Hypoglycemia typically is not present at the time of symptoms.

MGCA8 is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder resulting in death in infancy. Features include hypotonia, abnormal movements, respiratory insufficiency with apneic episodes, and lack of developmental progress, often with seizures. Brain imaging is variable, but may show progressive cerebral atrophy. Laboratory studies show increased serum lactate and 3-methylglutaconic aciduria, suggesting a mitochondrial defect (summary by Mandel et al., 2016). For a phenotypic description and a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of 3-methylglutaconic aciduria, see MGCA type I (250950).

A rare mitochondrial disease due to a defect in mitochondrial protein synthesis with onset in infancy or early childhood of muscular hypotonia, gait ataxia, mild bilateral pyramidal tract signs, developmental delay (affecting mostly speech and coordination) and subsequent intellectual disability. Short stature, obesity, microcephaly, strabismus, nystagmus, reduced visual acuity, lactic acidosis, and a brain neuropathology consistent with Leigh syndrome are also reported. Caused by homozygous or compound heterozygous mutation in the MTFMT gene on chromosome 15q22.

KINSSHIP syndrome (KINS) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by a recognizable pattern of anomalies including developmental delay, impaired intellectual development, seizures, mesomelic dysplasia, dysmorphic facial features, horseshoe or hypoplastic kidney, and failure to thrive (summary by Voisin et al., 2021).