Prenatal diagnosis of Aicardi-Goutières syndrome

Aicardi-Goutières syndrome is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder inducing cerebral atrophy, intracerebral calcification and developmental arrest. Diagnosis requires the presence of progressive encephalopathy with clinical onset shortly after birth, typical neuroimaging features associated with a raised blood and cerebrospinal fluid interferon-alpha level.A case of prenatal diagnosis of Aicardi-Goutières syndrome is reported.

An MRI performed at 26 gestational weeks showed bilateral calcifications and white matter abnormalities, cerebral anomalies typically described in this disease. The fetal blood analysis revealed an increase in interferon-alpha.

Therefore, the prenatal diagnosis of Aicardi-Goutières syndrome in this fetus was based on the following facts: the familial background with the affected first child and consanguineous parents, a normal pregnancy and normal fetal growth, cerebral anomalies diagnosed on prenatal ultrasound and cerebral MRI, raised interferon-alpha in the fetal serum and no evidence of any infectious etiology. The autopsy performed postdelivery at 28 1/2 weeks' gestation confirmed the diagnosis of Aicardi-Goutières syndrome.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first prenatal diagnosis of this syndrome. Such a diagnosis may prove useful for families at risk as long as genetic screening is not available.