Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) type 10 (SPG10) is an autosomal-dominantly inherited disease caused by pathogenic variants in KIF5A , presenting as either pure or complex HSP. This study aims to investigate the clinical and genetic features of KIF5A variants in a Taiwanese cohort diagnosed with HSP. We analyzed KIF5A coding regions in 219 unrelated Taiwanese patients clinically diagnosed with HSP using a targeted resequencing panel. Clinical, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging features of patients with SPG10 were characterized. Only one (0.5%) patient carried a heterozygous KIF5A variant, c.838C>T (p.Arg280Cys). This patient had a complex HSP phenotype with sensorimotor polyneuropathy, neuropathic pain, appendicular ataxia, and late disease onset at 39 years. Three family members also carried the variant, with one presented with HSP and two with axonal polyneuropathy, diagnosed as axonal Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT2). SPG10 is a rare HSP subtype in the Taiwanese population. This is the first report of SPG10 in Taiwan, highlighting the coexistence of SPG10 and CMT2 within a single family and the significant intra-familial phenotypic variation.

Current clinical scales that track disease progression are more tailored to spasticity or ataxia, with limited sensitivity to change. The aim was to develop a sensitive and valid scale specifically geared towards optimized sensitivity to change and adapted to patients presenting with both spasticity and ataxia. Longitudinal data from 127 spastic paraplegia type 7 (SPG7) and 112 autosomal recessive spastic ataxia Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS) patients were collected within the multicenter PROSPAX study. Sensitivity to change over 2 years of 30 items from the Scale for the Rating and Assessment of Ataxias (SARA), Spastic Paraplegia Rating Scale (SPRS), and the Activities of Daily Living subscale of the Friedreich's Ataxia Rating Scale (FARS-ADL) was evaluated. Items that demonstrated the highest sensitivity to change were used to build the Spastic Ataxia Composite scale (SPAXCOM). With seven items, the SPAXCOM showed an effect size of 0.71, higher than reference scales (SARA: 0.43, SPRS: 0.42, FARS-ADL: 0.27). The SPAXCOM had a similar sensitivity to change for both genotypes and was more sensitive in participants with a SARA lower than 10 and within the intermediate disease stage (FARS-Disease Staging: 2-3.5). The SPAXCOM showed a high correlation with disease duration (r = 0.67 [0.60; 0.72]) and disease stage (r = 0.86 [0.83; 0.89]). Perception of improvement, stagnation, and worsening were associated with a mean yearly SPAXCOM change of 0.44 (-0.14; 1.01), 0.61 (0.19; 1.03), and 1.22 (0.96; 1.49), respectively. The SPAXCOM is more sensitive to change and homogeneous across genotypes than the reference scales, allowing a reduction of the required sample size in future clinical trials. © 2025 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Mitochondrial complex III (CIII) deficiency is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by symptoms such as ataxia, cognitive dysfunction, and spastic paraplegia. Multiple genes are associated with complex III defects. Among them, the mutation of TTC19 is a rare subtype. We screened a Chinese boy with weakness of limbs and his non-consanguineous parents by whole exome sequencing and targeted sequencing. We report a Chinese boy diagnosed with mitochondrial complex III defect type 2 carrying a homozygous variant (c.719-732del, p.Leu240Serfs*17) of the TTC19 gene. According to the genotype analysis of his family members, this is an autosomal recessive inheritance. We provide his clinical manifestation. A new type of TTC19 mutation (c.719-732del, p.Leu240Serfs*17) was found, which enriched the TTC19 gene mutation spectrum and provided new data for elucidating the pathogenesis of CIII-deficient diseases.

With treatment trials on the horizon, this study aimed to identify candidate digital-motor gait outcomes for autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS), capturable by wearable sensors with multicenter validity, and ideally also ecological validity during free walking outside laboratory settings. Cross-sectional multicenter study (four centers), with gait assessments in 36 subjects (18 ARSACS patients; 18 controls) using three body-worn sensors (Opal, APDM) in laboratory settings and free walking in public spaces. Sensor gait measures were analyzed for discriminative validity from controls, and for convergent (ie, clinical and patient relevance) validity by correlations with SPRSmobility (primary outcome) and Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA), Spastic Paraplegia Rating Scale (SPRS), and activities of daily living subscore of the Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale (FARS-ADL) (exploratory outcomes). Of 30 hypothesis-based digital gait measures, 14 measures discriminated ARSACS patients from controls with large effect sizes (|Cliff's δ| > 0.8) in laboratory settings, with strongest discrimination by measures of spatiotemporal variability Lateral Step Deviation (δ = 0.98), SPcmp (δ = 0.94), and Swing CV (δ = 0.93). Large correlations with the SPRSmobility were observed for Swing CV (Spearman's ρ = 0.84), Speed (ρ = -0.63), and Harmonic Ratio V (ρ = -0.62). During supervised free walking in a public space, 11/30 gait measures discriminated ARSACS from controls with large effect sizes. Large correlations with SPRSmobility were here observed for Swing CV (ρ = 0.78) and Speed (ρ = -0.69), without reductions in effect sizes compared with laboratory settings. We identified a promising set of digital-motor candidate gait outcomes for ARSACS, applicable in multicenter settings, correlating with patient-relevant health aspects, and with high validity also outside laboratory settings, thus simulating real-life walking with higher ecological validity. © 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS) and hereditary spastic paraplegia type 7 (SPG7) represent the most common genotypes of spastic ataxia (SPAX). To date, their magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features have only been described qualitatively, and a pure neuroradiological differential diagnosis between these two conditions is difficult to achieve. To test the performance of MRI measures to discriminate between ARSACS and SPG7 (as an index of common SPAX disease). In this prospective multicenter study, 3D-T1-weighted images of 59 ARSACS (35.4 ± 10.3 years, M/F = 33/26) and 78 SPG7 (54.8 ± 10.3 years, M/F = 51/27) patients of the PROSPAX Consortium were analyzed, together with 30 controls (45.9 ± 16.9 years, M/F = 15/15). Different linear and surface measures were evaluated. A receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed, calculating area under the curve (AUC) and corresponding diagnostic accuracy parameters. The pons area proved to be the only metric increased exclusively in ARSACS patients (P = 0.02). Other different measures were reduced in ARSACS and SPG7 compared with controls (all with P ≤ 0.005). A cut-off value equal to 1.67 of the pons-to-superior vermis area ratio proved to have the highest AUC (0.98, diagnostic accuracy 93%, sensitivity 97%) in discriminating between ARSACS and SPG7. Evaluation of the pons-to-superior vermis area ratio can discriminate ARSACS from other SPAX patients, as exemplified here by SPG7. Hence, we hereby propose this ratio as the Magnetic Resonance Index for the Assessment and Recognition of patients harboring SACS mutations (MRI-ARSACS), a novel diagnostic tool able to identify ARSACS patients and useful for discriminating ARSACS from other SPAX patients undergoing MRI. © 2024 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.