Partial epilepsy with prominent auditory symptoms not linked to chromosome 10q

Autosomal dominant partial epilepsy with auditory features (ADPEAF) has been identified as a distinct genetic syndrome. Several families have been described linked to chromosome 10q24, which carries mutations in the LGI1 gene. We report a small new pedigree with partial epilepsy with auditory symptoms. We performed a detailed clinical study of the family, constructed an extended pedigree comprising 106 individuals, and obtained blood samples for genetic analysis. Individuals with seizures also underwent neurophysiological and neuroradiological investigations. Genetic analysis was performed with six microsatellite markers spanning to the critical region of chromosome 10q24. Mutation analysis of the coding sequence of LGI1 was performed in two patients. Five members of the family in generation IV had seizures. Three individuals had auditory auras, followed by generalised seizures in two and brief loss of contact in one, one had nocturnal tonic-clonic seizures with an EEG suggestive of right temporal lobe onset, and one only had febrile seizures. In addition, a deceased woman was said to have had seizures. Haplotype analysis of this region of chromosome 10q24 failed to disclose a common haplotype in affected family members and no disease-associated mutations were detected in the LGI1 gene, suggesting that this locus is not associated with the disease in our family. Our small sample with partial epilepsy with auditory symptoms, clinically resembles previously described ADPEAF families. However, the low number of patients is compatible with either autosomal dominant or other inheritance patterns. In the case of the former, the lack of segregation with 10q24 suggests that a second locus is involved in the aetiology of ADPEAF; in the latter, an epileptic syndrome also characterized by auditory features, but distinct from ADPEAF, could be transmitted in this family.