X
X
X
X
MPS Reference
The information contained in this section of the site is intended for Healthcare Professionals only.

Are you a Healthcare Professional?

YesNo
Back to Top
Make this site experience relevant for you

“We hope that when the paediatrician sees the physical findings, and if the radiologist gets some X-rays, [that] they can say that these vertebrae don’t look normal [and] we need to send this child to the geneticist”. – Dr Paul Harmatz

Scroll down page for more

Neurological involvement in MPS: developmental delay may not always be a distinguishing feature

Neurology plays a critical role in MPS diagnosis

Neurological involvement is common in individuals with mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) and may constitute some of the first presenting symptoms of disease. It is important for neurology to consider MPS in a variety of presentations, as patterns of neurological involvement vary substantially by MPS subtype. MPS may present with or without intellectual disability and, for some subtypes, central nervous system involvement is primarily due to cervical spinal subluxation and cord compression.1-3

Delayed diagnosis can lead to

  • Severe multisystemic complications5,7
  • Irreversible or end-organ damage7
  • Delayed treatment4
  • Lack of access to disease-specific management, with concomitant increase in risk of surgical mortality1,6,7,-11

Watch key opinion leader Dr Offiah talk about variability in phenotype and disease progression.

Signs and symptoms are unpredictable and clinically heterogeneous across and within MPS disorders, making diagnosis challenging. Patients may exhibit non-classical and/or classical signs of MPS, as well as rapidly or slowly progressing disease.4-6

Suspect, refer and rule out MPS

Because of emerging knowledge and therapeutic options, neurologists have opportunities to positively impact the lives of patients and families living with MPS through early identification, which can enable disease-specific management and access to available therapies. Be aware of signs and symptoms to expedite early intervention.7,8

Stay informed about emerging topics in MPS
Although patients with MPS typically present with a wide range or cluster of symptoms, isolated symptoms may be sufficient to merit referral to a geneticist or metabolic centre.12

Neurological signs and symptoms can vary widely in frequency and disease progression across and within MPS types.1

Common-neurological-features-of-MPS-by-subtype_AMc

Along with these common neurological signs and symptoms, the following should also raise your index of suspicion for MPS1:

  • Some MPS disorders lead to intellectual disability and behavioural abnormalities, while others are not associated with these neurological impairments.
  • Carpal and tarsal tunnel syndromes represent the most common features of peripheral nervous system impairment.
It is important to consider MPS regardless of intellectual disability status.

Take a deeper look at signs and symptoms that should raise your suspicion of MPS

Presentation and disease progression are unpredictable, multisystemic, and variable across and within MPS disorders, making diagnosis challenging.7

Delayed diagnosis is common, and it can have devastating consequences for your patients. Early identification of signs and symptoms across systems can be critical to early and accurate diagnosis. Become familiar with the diverse signs and symptoms of MPS that may present in your practice.4

Discover the signs and symptoms of MPS

How else might you see MPS?

Patterns of signs and symptoms should raise your clinical suspicion of MPS

Regardless of the clinical setting, there are overt and generally observable signs that should raise your suspicion. Upon further examination, additional symptomatology may be discovered through specialty-specific targeted clinical assessments, laboratory findings and patient history. This division is illustrated below.

Signs and symptoms of MPS1,2,4,-7,14-25

Musculoskeletal

General features

  • Abnormal gait
  • Bone dysplasia
  • Claw hands
  • Coarse facial features
  • Joint pain
  • Macrocephaly
  • Pectus carinatum
  • Reduced endurance/exercise intolerance
  • Short stature/growth retardationa

Features revealed by specialty–specific assessment

  • Abnormal gait
  • Bone deformities
  • Dysostosis multiplex
  • Genu valgum
  • Joint involvement (contractures, joint laxity) without inflammation
  • Spinal subluxation

Rheumatological

General features

  • Decreased joint mobility
  • Hip stiffness and pain
  • Joint pain
  • Joint stiffness or laxity

Features revealed by specialty–specific assessment

  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Joint involvement without joint swelling or erosive bone lesions

Ear, Nose, and Throat

General features

  • Conductive and/or sensorineural hearing loss
  • Enlarged tongue
  • Recurrent otitis media

Features revealed by specialty-specific assessment

  • Abnormal epiglottis
  • Depressed nasal bridge
  • Hypertrophic adenoids
  • Hypertrophic tonsils
  • Middle ear mucus
  • Narrowing of supraglottic and infraglottic airway
  • Ossicular malformation
  • Recurrent and excessive rhinorrhea
  • Recurrent otitis media
  • Tracheal thickening/compression
  • Tubular obstruction
  • Tympanic membrane thickening

Ophthalmological

General features

  • Cataracts
  • Diffuse corneal clouding
  • Glaucoma

Features revealed by specialty-specific assessment

  • Amblyopia
  • Corneal clouding with characteristic “ground glass” appearance
  • High hyperopia
  • Hypertelorism
  • Optic nerve abnormalities (swelling and atrophy)
  • Peripheral vascularisation of the cornea
  • Progressive pseudo-exophthalmos
  • Reduction in visual acuity
  • Retinopathy
  • Strabismus

Neurological

General features

  • Behavioural abnormalities (typically not present in MPS IVA and VI)
  • Developmental delay (typically not present in MPS IVA and VI)
  • Hearing impairment
  • Seizures (typically not present in MPS IVA and VI)

Features revealed by specialty-specific assessment

  • Arachnoid cysts (typically not present in MPS IVA and VI)
  • Brain atrophy (typically not present in MPS IVA and VI)
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Cervical cord compression/myelopathy/subluxation
  • Enlarged perivascular space
  • Hydrocephalus
  • Odontoid dysplasia
  • Pachymeningitis cervicalis
  • Papilledema/optic atrophy
  • Sensorineural deafness
  • Signal-intensity abnormalities
  • Spinal canal stenosis
  • Ventriculomegaly

Cardiovascular

General features

  • Reduced endurance/exercise intolerance

Features revealed by specialty-specific assessment

  • Pulmonary hypertension
  • Thickened, regurgitant or stenotic mitral or aortic valves in presence of left ventricular hypertrophy
  • Tricuspid regurgitation

Pulmonary

General features

  • Reduced endurance/exercise intolerance
  • Sleep apnoea

Features revealed by specialty-specific assessment

  • Obstructed upper and lower airways (bronchial narrowing, narrowing of supraglottic and infraglottic airway)
  • Progressive reduction in lung volume
  • Respiratory infections
  • Sleep disorders (obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome and upper airway resistance syndrome)

Gastrointestinal

General features

  • Abdominal pain
  • Constipation
  • Hepatosplenomegaly
  • Hernias
  • Loose stools

Features revealed by specialty-specific assessment

  • Hepatosplenomegaly

Dental

General features

  • Abnormal buccal surfaces
  • Dentinogenesis imperfecta
  • Hypodontia
  • Pointed cusps
  • Spade-shaped incisors
  • Thin enamel

Features revealed by specialty-specific assessment

  • Abnormal buccal surfaces
  • Thin enamel

aSkeletal involvement and short stature may be less overt in some patients.

The following symptom patterns include neurological signs that should trigger a high index of suspicion for MPS:

  • Global developmental delay along with coarse facial features1,17
  • Cognitive impairment, delayed language development, hyperactive behaviour, and sleep disorders1,13
  • Signs of compressive myelopathy (easily tired, frequent falls, paraparesis)
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome1,17

As neurological manifestations may be important presenting signs, neurologists can play a key role in identifying individuals with MPS. Appropriate patients should be referred to a geneticist or metabolic centre for definitive diagnosis and where available, initiation of treatment.1,4,12

Refer to rule out MPS

A more common neurological disorder or MPS?

Patients with MPS often require multiple corrective surgeries and procedures necessitating sedation and/or anaesthesia, which incur significant risk in this population due to airway abnormalities, orthopaedic deformities, and pulmonary, cardiac and neurological involvement.11 Early and accurate diagnosis is essential for proper planning and management of patients.

Many MPS-associated neurological abnormalities are non-specific and have been described in numerous static and degenerative neurological conditions. Consider MPS when you see the following:

  • Genetic disease with global developmental delay, coarse facial features, and/or organomegaly17
  • Neurodegenerative diseases characterised by cognitive impairment and behaviour disorders1
  • Cervical spinal myelopathy in patients with skeletal dysplasia1

Signal-intensity abnormalities, enlarged perivascular spaces (PVS), ventriculomegaly and hydrocephalus, atrophy, and spinal stenosis are prominent neurological features in almost all types of MPS1:

  • By MRI, the most prominent brain features of MPS are white- and grey-matter changes, ventriculomegaly and hydrocephalus, cortical atrophy, and enlarged PVS.1
  • A unique MRI imaging feature described in patients with MPS disorders with primary neurological progression is the ‘‘honeycomb-like” appearance in the basal ganglia and thalami.1
  • By MRI, the most prominent spinal features of MPS are canal stenosis, cord compression and myelopathy.1
As properly managing MPS can have a life-changing impact, early and accurate diagnosis is critical. If there is any suspicion of MPS, consider referring to a geneticist or local metabolic centre.12
When in doubt over differential diagnoses, refer to rule out MPS

Case studies: uncover the full clinical spectrum

left_arright_ar

Read More

Early investigation leads to early intervention.
Avoid delay.

It's a new era in management. Stay informed.

References:  1. Zafeiriou DI, Batzios SP. Brain and spinal MR imaging findings in mucopolysaccharidoses: a review. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2013;34(1):5-13. doi:10.3174/ajnr.A2832.  2. Muenzer J. The mucopolysaccharidoses: a heterogeneous group of disorders with variable pediatric presentations. J Pediatr. 2004;144(suppl 5):S27-S34.  3. Solanki GA, Martin KW, Theroux MC, et al. Spinal involvement in mucopolysaccharidosis IVA (Morquio-Brailsford or Morquio A syndrome): presentation, diagnosis and management. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2013;36(2):339-355. doi:10.1007/s10545-013-9586-2.  4. Hendriksz C. Improved diagnostic procedures in attenuated mucopolysaccharidosis. Br J Hosp Med. 2011;72(2):91-95.  5. Hendriksz CJ, Berger KI, Giugliani R, et al. International guidelines for the management and treatment of Morquio A syndrome. Am J Med Genet Part A. 2014;9999A:1-15. doi:10.1002/ajmg.a.36833.  6. Lachman RS, Burton BK, Clarke LA, et al. Mucopolysaccharidosis IVA (Morquio A syndrome) and VI (Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome): under-recognized and challenging to diagnose. Skeletal Radiol. 2014;43(3):359-369. doi:10.1007/s00256-013-1797-y.  7. Lehman TJA, Miller N, Norquist B, Underhill L, Keutzer J. Diagnosis of the mucopolysaccharidoses. Rheumatology. 2011;50(suppl 5):v41-v48.  8. Clarke LA. Pathogenesis of skeletal and connective tissue involvement in the mucopolysaccharidoses: glycosaminoglycan storage is merely the instigator. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2011;50(suppl 5):v13-18. doi:10.1093/rheumatology/ker395.  9. Morishita K, Petty RE. Musculoskeletal manifestations of mucopolysaccharidoses. Rheumatology. 2011;50(suppl 5):v19-v25. doi:10.1093/rheumatology/ker397.  10. Muenzer J, Beck M, Eng CM, et al. Long-term, open-labeled extension study of idursulfase in the treatment of Hunter syndrome. Genet Med. 2011;13(2):95-101. doi:10.1097/GIM.0b013e3181fea459.  11. Spinello CM, Novello LM, Pitino S, et al. Anesthetic management in mucopolysaccharidoses. ISRN Anesthesiol. 2013;2013:1-10. doi:10.1155/2013/791983.  12. Wood TC, Harvey K, Beck M, et al. Diagnosing mucopolysaccharidosis IVA. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2013;36(2):293-307. doi:10.1007/s10545-013-9587-1.  13. Kakkis ED, Neufeld EF. The mucopolysaccharidoses. In: Berg BO, ed. Principles of child neurology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 1996:1141-1166.  14. Thümler A, Miebach E, Lampe C, et al. Clinical characteristics of adults with slowly progressing mucopolysaccharidosis VI: a case series. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2012;35(6):1071-1079. doi:10.1007/s10545-012-9474-1.  15. Montaño AM, Tomatsu S, Gottesman GS, Smith M, Orii T. International Morquio A Registry: clinical manifestation and natural course of Morquio A disease. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2007;30(2):165-174. doi:10.1007/s10545-007-0529-7.  16. Kinirons MJ, Nelson J. Dental findings in mucopolysaccharidosis type IV A (Morquio’s disease type A). Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol. 1990;70(2):176-179.  17. Lachman R, Martin KW, Castro S, Basto MA, Adams A, Teles EL. Radiologic and neuroradiologic findings in the mucopolysaccharidoses. J Pediatr Rehabil Med. 2010;3(2):109-118. doi:10.3233/PRM-2010-0115.  18. Cimaz R, Coppa GV, Koné-Paut I, et al. Joint contractures in the absence of inflammation may indicate mucopolysaccharidosis [hypothesis]. Pediatr Rheumatol Online J. 2009;7:18. doi:10.1186/1546-0096-7-18.  19. Fahnehjelm KT, Ashworth JL, Pitz S, et al. Clinical guidelines for diagnosing and managing ocular manifestations in children with mucopolysaccharidosis. Acta Ophthalmol. 2012;90(7):595-602. doi:10.1111/j.1755-3768.2011.02280.x.  20. Braunlin EA, Harmatz PR, Scarpa M, et al. Cardiac disease in patients with mucopolysaccharidosis: presentation, diagnosis and management. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2011;34(6):1183-1197. doi:10.1007/s10545-011-9359-8.  21. Braunlin E, Orchard PJ, Whitley CB, Schroeder L, Reed RC, Manivel JC. Unexpected coronary artery findings in mucopolysaccharidosis. Report of four cases and literature review. Cardiovasc Pathol. 2014;23(3):145-151. doi:10.1016/j.carpath.2014.01.001.  22. Mesolella M, Cimmino M, Cantone E, et al. Management of otolaryngological manifestations in mucopolysaccharidoses: our experience. Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital. 2013;33(4):267-272.  23. Berger KI, Fagondes SC, Giugliani R, et al. Respiratory and sleep disorders in mucopolysaccharidosis. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2013;36(2):201-210. doi:10.1007/s10545-012-9555-1.  24. Martins AM, Dualibi AP, Norato D, et al. Guidelines for the management of mucopolysaccharidosis type I. J Pediatr. 2009;155(4)(suppl 2):S32-S46. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2009.07.005.  25. Clarke LA, Winchester B, Giugliani R, Tylki-Szymańska A, Amartino H. Biomarkers for the mucopolysaccharidoses: discovery and clinical utility. Mol Genet Metab. 2012;106(4):396-402. doi:10.1016/j.ymgme.2012.05.003.  26. Data on file. Biomarin Pharmaceutical, Inc.  27. Drummond JC, Krane EJ, Tomatsu S, Theroux MC, Lee RR. Paraplegia after epidural-general anesthesia in a Morquio patient with moderate thoracic spinal stenosis. Can J Anesth. 2015;62(1):45-49. doi:10.1007/s12630-014-0247-1.  28. Sharkia R, Mahajnah M, Zalan A, Sourlis C, Bauer P, Schöls L. Sanfilippo type A: new clinical manifestations and neuro-imaging findings in patients from the same family in Israel: a case report. J Med Case Rep. 2014;8:78. doi:10.1186/1752-1947-8-78.