Electroclinical evolution in ring chromosome 20 epilepsy syndrome: a case with severe phenotypic features followed for 25 years.

Intractable epilepsy and peculiar EEG patterns characterize ring chromosome 20 syndrome [r(20)], while dysmorphic features, mental retardation and behavioural disturbances are widely variable. The clinical evolution of r(20) over time is not well defined as relatively few cases have been reported. Here we describe a patient with severe clinical features followed for a 25-year period. The patient was subjected to clinical, psychometric and EEG evaluation twice a year from the age of 21 years. Cytogenetic studies, using chromosome analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and several immunological investigations were performed. Ring chromosome 20 was found in 50% of examined metaphases with the deletion of subtelomeric regions 20p and 20q. Our patient presented with marked dysmorphic features, severe mental retardation, tetraparesis, dysarthria and intractable epilepsy with onset during the first year of life. During follow up, EEG findings and clinical features progressively worsened: a progressive disorganization of background EEG activity occurred and mental and motor impairment evolved. The severity of clinical expression depended on the extent of chromosomal deletion and on the haploinsufficiency of other important related genetic loci due to ring instability. The progressive worsening of both clinical and EEG features over a long period, which has also been reported by other authors, further characterized this syndrome.