U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination

Alkaline ceramidase 3 deficiency(PLDECO)

MedGen UID:
1622324
Concept ID:
C4540358
Disease or Syndrome
Synonym: LEUKODYSTROPHY, PROGRESSIVE, EARLY CHILDHOOD-ONSET
SNOMED CT: Alkaline ceramidase 3 deficiency (1237515001); ACER3-related early childhood-onset progressive leukodystrophy (1237515001); Leukodystrophy due to alkaline ceramidase 3 deficiency (1237515001)
 
Gene (location): ACER3 (11q13.5)
 
Monarch Initiative: MONDO:0044718
OMIM®: 617762
Orphanet: ORPHA502444

Definition

A rare genetic disorder with characteristics of infantile onset of stagnation and regression of motor and language development resulting in complete lack of communication and purposeful movement. Further neurological manifestations include truncal hypotonia, appendicular spasticity, dystonia, optic disc pallor, peripheral neuropathy and neurogenic bladder. Patients also present multiple contractures, late-onset relative macrocephaly, short stature and facial dysmorphism (including coarse facial features, sloping forehead, thick eyebrows, low-set ears, prominent nose, flat philtrum, and prominent lower lip). Brain imaging at advanced stages shows diffuse abnormal white matter signal and severe atrophy. Sural nerve biopsy reveals decreased myelination. [from SNOMEDCT_US]

Clinical features

From HPO
Neurogenic bladder
MedGen UID:
595
Concept ID:
C0005697
Disease or Syndrome
A type of bladder dysfunction caused by neurologic damage. Neurogenic bladder can be flaccid or spastic. Common manifestatios of neurogenic bladder are overflow incontinence, frequency, urgency, urge incontinence, and retention.
Short stature
MedGen UID:
87607
Concept ID:
C0349588
Finding
A height below that which is expected according to age and gender norms. Although there is no universally accepted definition of short stature, many refer to "short stature" as height more than 2 standard deviations below the mean for age and gender (or below the 3rd percentile for age and gender dependent norms).
Low-set ears
MedGen UID:
65980
Concept ID:
C0239234
Congenital Abnormality
Upper insertion of the ear to the scalp below an imaginary horizontal line drawn between the inner canthi of the eye and extending posteriorly to the ear.
Dystonic disorder
MedGen UID:
3940
Concept ID:
C0013421
Sign or Symptom
An abnormally increased muscular tone that causes fixed abnormal postures. There is a slow, intermittent twisting motion that leads to exaggerated turning and posture of the extremities and trunk.
Leukodystrophy
MedGen UID:
6070
Concept ID:
C0023520
Disease or Syndrome
Leukodystrophy refers to deterioration of white matter of the brain resulting from degeneration of myelin sheaths in the CNS. Their basic defect is directly related to the synthesis and maintenance of myelin membranes. Symmetric white matter involvement at MRI is a typical finding in patients with leukodystrophies.
Peripheral neuropathy
MedGen UID:
18386
Concept ID:
C0031117
Disease or Syndrome
Peripheral neuropathy is a general term for any disorder of the peripheral nervous system. The main clinical features used to classify peripheral neuropathy are distribution, type (mainly demyelinating versus mainly axonal), duration, and course.
Intellectual disability, severe
MedGen UID:
48638
Concept ID:
C0036857
Mental or Behavioral Dysfunction
Severe mental retardation is defined as an intelligence quotient (IQ) in the range of 20-34.
Areflexia
MedGen UID:
115943
Concept ID:
C0234146
Finding
Absence of neurologic reflexes such as the knee-jerk reaction.
Cerebral atrophy
MedGen UID:
116012
Concept ID:
C0235946
Disease or Syndrome
Atrophy (wasting, decrease in size of cells or tissue) affecting the cerebrum.
Hypoplasia of the corpus callosum
MedGen UID:
138005
Concept ID:
C0344482
Congenital Abnormality
Underdevelopment of the corpus callosum.
Developmental regression
MedGen UID:
324613
Concept ID:
C1836830
Disease or Syndrome
Loss of developmental skills, as manifested by loss of developmental milestones.
Developmental stagnation
MedGen UID:
341348
Concept ID:
C1848980
Finding
A cessation of the development of a child in the areas of motor skills, speech and language, cognitive skills, and social and/or emotional skills.
Appendicular spasticity
MedGen UID:
937224
Concept ID:
C4313257
Finding
A type of spasticity that affects one or more limbs (arms or legs).
Joint contracture
MedGen UID:
3228
Concept ID:
C0009918
Anatomical Abnormality
A limitation in the passive range of motion of a joint resulting from loss of elasticity in the periarticular tissues owing to structural changes of non-bony tissues, such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, joint capsules or skin. A contracture prevents movement of the associated body part.
Relative macrocephaly
MedGen UID:
338607
Concept ID:
C1849075
Congenital Abnormality
A relatively mild degree of macrocephaly in which the head circumference is not above two standard deviations from the mean, but appears dysproportionately large when other factors such as body stature are taken into account.
Axial hypotonia
MedGen UID:
342959
Concept ID:
C1853743
Finding
Muscular hypotonia (abnormally low muscle tone) affecting the musculature of the trunk.
Prominent nose
MedGen UID:
98423
Concept ID:
C0426415
Finding
Distance between subnasale and pronasale more than two standard deviations above the mean, or alternatively, an apparently increased anterior protrusion of the nasal tip.
Smooth philtrum
MedGen UID:
222980
Concept ID:
C1142533
Finding
Flat skin surface, with no ridge formation in the central region of the upper lip between the nasal base and upper vermilion border.
Thick lower lip vermilion
MedGen UID:
326567
Concept ID:
C1839739
Finding
Increased thickness of the lower lip, leading to a prominent appearance of the lower lip. The height of the vermilion of the lower lip in the midline is more than 2 SD above the mean. Alternatively, an apparently increased height of the vermilion of the lower lip in the frontal view (subjective).
Coarse facial features
MedGen UID:
335284
Concept ID:
C1845847
Finding
Absence of fine and sharp appearance of brows, nose, lips, mouth, and chin, usually because of rounded and heavy features or thickened skin with or without thickening of subcutaneous and bony tissues.
Thick eyebrow
MedGen UID:
377914
Concept ID:
C1853487
Finding
Increased density/number and/or increased diameter of eyebrow hairs.
Sloping forehead
MedGen UID:
346640
Concept ID:
C1857679
Finding
Inclination of the anterior surface of the forehead from the vertical more than two standard deviations above the mean (objective); or apparently excessive posterior sloping of the forehead in a lateral view.
Optic disc pallor
MedGen UID:
108218
Concept ID:
C0554970
Finding
A pale yellow discoloration of the optic disc (the area of the optic nerve head in the retina). The optic disc normally has a pinkish hue with a central yellowish depression.

Term Hierarchy

CClinical test,  RResearch test,  OOMIM,  GGeneReviews,  VClinVar  
  • CROGVAlkaline ceramidase 3 deficiency

Recent clinical studies

Diagnosis

Edvardson S, Yi JK, Jalas C, Xu R, Webb BD, Snider J, Fedick A, Kleinman E, Treff NR, Mao C, Elpeleg O
J Med Genet 2016 Jun;53(6):389-96. Epub 2016 Jan 20 doi: 10.1136/jmedgenet-2015-103457. PMID: 26792856Free PMC Article
Momoi T, Ben-Yoseph Y, Nadler HL
Biochem J 1982 Aug 1;205(2):419-25. doi: 10.1042/bj2050419. PMID: 6814427Free PMC Article

Supplemental Content

Recent activity

Your browsing activity is empty.

Activity recording is turned off.

Turn recording back on

See more...