Clinical and molecular studies in two new cases of ARSACS

Autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS) is an early-onset neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by the association of spastic ataxia and sensorimotor neuropathy. Additional features include retinal changes and cognitive impairment. Today, next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques are allowing the rapid identification of a growing number of missense variants, even in less typical forms of the disease, but the pathogenic significance of these changes is often difficult to establish on the basis of classic bioinformatics criteria and genotype/phenotype correlations. Herein, we describe two novel cases of missense mutations in SACS. The two individuals were identified during the genetic screening of a large cohort of patients with inherited ataxias. We discuss how protein studies and specialized ophthalmological investigations could represent useful pointers for the interpretation of genetic data. Combination of these tools with NGS for rapid genotyping might help to identify new true ARSACS cases.