Metachromatic leukodystrophy, adult form

What it is

A subtype of Metachromatic leukodystrophy characterized by progressive psychomotor regression with an insidious onset after the age of 16 years, most often beginning with intellectual and behavioral changes, such as memory deficits or emotional instability. The clinical picture is dominated by gradual cognitive, later also motor, decline, taking a protracted course with periods of waxing and waning. Decerebration and death occur within decades after disease onset.

Key facts

Prevalence

1-9 / 1 000 000 (at birth)

Age of onset

Adult

Inheritance

Autosomal recessive

Classified as

Clinical subtype

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.

Genes

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