Clinical phenotype associated with variants in TANGO2: A case study

Transport and Golgi organization 2 (TANGO2) disease is a severe inherited disorder that presents with multiple symptoms and a broad spectrum of phenotypes, including metabolic crisis, encephalopathy, cardiac arrhythmia, and hypothyroidism. The clinical picture of a TANGO2 gene biallelic mutation involves encephalopathy and rhabdomyolysis and is marked by cardiac rhythm disorders and neurological regression. The presentation of encephalopathy varies and can range from isolated language delay and cognitive impairment to multiple disabilities and spastic quadriparesis. A TANGO2 gene mutation causes serious illness with a limited life expectancy due to the unpredictable risk of cardiac rhythm disorder and death, particularly during rhabdomyolysis. Clinicians must therefore consider the TANGO2 gene when confronted with rhabdomyolysis in a patient suffering from an early developmental disorder. Currently, managing this disease is purely symptomatic. Here, we report the clinical features of a 10-year-old girl with mutations in the TANGO2 gene. Unique to our case was the lack of elevated creatine kinase during the early acute crises of cardiac failure and multi-organ failure, as well as the lack of any prior mental retardation associated with the aberrant heart rhythm.