Autosomal recessive spastic paraplegia type 44

What it is

Autosomal recessive spastic paraplegia type 44 (SPG44) is a very rare, complex form of hereditary spastic paraplegia characterized by a late-onset, slowly progressive spastic paraplegia associated with mild ataxia and dysarthria, upper extremity involvement (i.e. loss of finger dexterity, dysmetria), and mild cognitive impairment, without the presence of nystagmus. A hypomyelinating leukodystrophy and thin corpus callosum is observed in all cases and psychomotor development is normal or near normal. SPG44 is caused by mutations in the GJC2 gene (1q41-q42) encoding the gap junction gamma-2 protein.

Key facts

Prevalence

<1 / 1 000 000

Age of onset

Adolescent, Adult

Inheritance

Autosomal recessive

Classified as

Disease

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

Gene

ICD-10 codes

ICD-10 has no distinct code for most rare diseases, so many are filed under the nearest available one. A shared code identifies the group, not this disease — the ORPHAcode above is what identifies it.

Related health topics

Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.

Cross-references