Neonatal seizures and retardation in a girl with biochemical features of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy: A possible new peroxisomal disease entity

Neonatal hypotonia, seizures beginning at 5 days, and severe retardation were noted in a girl with normal karyotype and biochemical evidence of impaired adrenal function. Postmortem examination at 14 months revealed malformative and destructive lesions of central gray and white matter, atrophy of adrenal cortex with striated adrenocortical cells, hepatic fibrosis, and PAS-positive macrophages in several organs. Pathologically and clinically, this patient most closely approximated neonatal adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) and differed strikingly from X-linked childhood ALD. In contrast, biochemical changes resembled the abnormalities observed in X-linked ALD and differed from those in the neonatal form. The very-long-chain fatty acid accumulation characteristic of both disorders was demonstrated, but unlike neonatal ALD, the levels or metabolism of plasmalogens, pipecolic acid, phytanic acid, and bile acid intermediates were normal, and peroxisomes in a liver biopsy apecimen were present in normal number and appeared enlarged. While the case resembles the recently reported entity of peroxisomal acylCoA oxidase deficiency, assignment to this category was excluded by immunoblot studies on postmortem liver, which revealed normal amounts of this enzyme. Correlation of clinical, morphologic, and biochemical data suggests that this case is an example of a so-far undescribed entity, and reinforces the concept that the phenotypic spectrum of peroxisomal disorders is wider than realized.