Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42651201›Full record

ArticleBrain sciences2026

Early Manifestations, Diagnostic Pathways, and Epilepsy in Juvenile-Onset Huntington Disease: A Three-Patient Case Series and Systematic Review.

Mirjana Perkovic Benedik, Tanja Loboda, Katarina Benedik Kafol, Jan Kafol, Neli Bizjak

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Article in Brain sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

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5 authors.

Mirjana Perkovic BenedikDepartment of Child, Adolescent and Developmental Neurology, University Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Tanja LobodaDepartment of Child, Adolescent and Developmental Neurology, University Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Katarina Benedik KafolFaculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Jan KafolFaculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.ORCID 0009-0003-4159-1783
Neli BizjakDepartment of Child, Adolescent and Developmental Neurology, University Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.ORCID 0000-0002-2190-6771

Funding

Ljubljana University Medical Centre
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundJuvenile-onset Huntington disease (JoHD) is a rare form of Huntington disease characterized by symptom onset at or before 20 years of age. Early manifestations are often non-choreic and may be attributed to developmental, psychiatric, movement, metabolic, or epileptic disorders. We described three molecularly confirmed cases and examined early manifestations, diagnostic pathways, and epilepsy.

methodsWe conducted a retrospective case series and a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 systematic review of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection through 5 July 2026. The strict patient-level synthesis required attributable onset at or before 20 years, patient-specific molecular confirmation of a pathogenic

resultsThe cases included childhood-onset JoHD with drug-resistant epilepsy, adolescent-onset JoHD with progressive motor-cognitive decline and epilepsy in a known Huntington disease pedigree, and childhood-onset JoHD without available family history, in whom status epilepticus prompted renewed diagnostic evaluation. Ninety-three reports were included; of these, 81 contributed 228 unique patients and 12 provided complementary data. Early manifestations were heterogeneous and broadly consistent with previously described childhood-onset JoHD phenotypes. Diagnostic delay was extractable in 180/228 patients; among 172 with point estimates, the median was 4.0 years. Definite epilepsy was reported in 60/145 patients with ascertainable seizure status and was descriptively more frequent in childhood-onset (<10 years) than adolescent-onset (10-20 years) JoHD (49/84 [58.3%] vs. 11/57 [19.3%]).

conclusionsJoHD should be considered in children and adolescents with progressive multisystem neurological involvement, particularly when epilepsy occurs with developmental regression, gait or speech deterioration, pyramidal or extrapyramidal signs, basal-ganglia abnormalities, or a compatible family history.

Indexed as

basal gangliaepilepsyHTT CAG repeat expansionjuvenile-onset Huntington diseaseseizuressystematic review

Identifiers

PMID42651201
PMCPMC13510472

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