Spinocerebellar ataxia 27B: A novel, frequent and potentially treatable ataxia

Abstract

Hereditary ataxias, especially when presenting sporadically in adulthood, present a particular diagnostic challenge owing to their great clinical and genetic heterogeneity. Currently, up to 75% of such patients remain without a genetic diagnosis. In an era of emerging disease‐modifying gene‐stratified therapies, the identification of causative alleles has become increasingly important. Over the past few years, the implementation of advanced bioinformatics tools and long‐read sequencing has allowed the identification of a number of novel repeat expansion disorders, such as the recently described spinocerebellar ataxia 27B (SCA27B) caused by a (GAA)•(TTC) repeat expansion in intron 1 of the fibroblast growth factor 14 (FGF14) gene. SCA27B is rapidly gaining recognition as one of the most common forms of adult‐onset hereditary ataxia, with several studies showing that it accounts for a substantial number (9–61%) of previously undiagnosed cases from different cohorts. First natural history studies and multiple reports have already outlined the progression and core phenotype of this novel disease, which consists of a late‐onset slowly progressive pan‐cerebellar syndrome that is frequently associated with cerebellar oculomotor signs, such as downbeat nystagmus, and episodic symptoms. Furthermore, preliminary studies in patients with SCA27B have shown promising symptomatic benefits of 4‐aminopyridine, an already marketed drug. This review describes the current knowledge of the genetic and molecular basis, epidemiology, clinical features and prospective treatment strategies in SCA27B.