Brain-Lung-Thyroid Disease

Brain-lung-thyroid disease is a rare familial disorder caused by mutations in thyroid transcription factor 1, a gene that regulates neuronal migration. We report the clinical features of ten patients from a single family with a novel gene mutation, including observations regarding treatment. Neurologic features of the kindred included developmental delay, learning difficulties, psychosis, chorea, and dystonia. Three patients had a history of seizure, which has not been previously reported in genetically confirmed cases. Low-dose dopamine-receptor blocking drugs were poorly tolerated in 2 patients who received this therapy, levodopa improved chorea in 3 of 4 children, and diazepam was markedly effective in a single adult patient. Chorea related to brain-lung-thyroid disease appears to respond paradoxically to antidopaminergic drugs. The unusual therapeutic response seen in our patients and others may help elucidate how disease-related migratory deficits affect neural pathways associated with motor control.