Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: Kir6.2

Title: Infantile spasms as an epileptic feature of DEND syndrome associated with an activating mutation in the potassium adenosine triphosphate (ATP) channel, Kir6.2.

Authors: Nadia Bahi-Buisson, Monica Eisermann, Sylvie Nivot, Christine Bellanné-Chantelot, Olivier Dulac, Nathalie Bach, Perrine Plouin, Catherine Chiron, Pascale de Lonlay

Journal, date & volume: J. Child Neurol., 2007 Sep , 22, 1147-50

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17890419

Abstract
Activating mutations in the Kir6.2 subunit of the adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel is a cause of neonatal diabetes associated with various neurological disorders that include developmental delay, epilepsy, and neonatal diabetes (known together as DEND syndrome). This article reports a girl who developed infantile spasms and early onset diabetes mellitus at the age of 3 months and revealed DEND syndrome with a heterozygous activating mutation in Kir6.2. Infantile spasms with hypsarrhythmia on the electroencephalogram were severe and refractory to steroids. Steroids combined with oral sulfonylurea, a drug that closes the ATP-sensitive potassium channel by an independent mechanism, allowed partial and transitory control of the epilepsy. However, the child still exhibited severe encephalopathy and died of aspiration pneumonia. The role of oral sulfonylurea as an anticonvulsant in DEND syndrome associated with Kir6.2 mutation is discussed.