1 Muscle and brain sodium channelopathies: under-recognised, potentially fatal but treatable disorders Emma Matthews1, MRCP, Simona Balestrini2, PhD, Prof Sanjay Sisodiya2, FRCP, and Prof Michael G Hanna, FRCP1 1MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK 2Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, WC1N 3BG, and Chalfont Centre for Epilepsy, Bucks, UK Corresponding author: Emma Matthews
[email protected] Tel: 020 7679 2000 ext 84448 MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK Word counts Summary: 172 Manuscript: 5574 2 Summary Voltage gated sodium channels are essential for excitability of skeletal muscle fibres and neurones. An increasing number of disabling or fatal paediatric neurological disorders linked to mutations of voltage gated sodium channel genes are recognised. Muscle phenotypes include episodic paralysis, myotonia, neonatal hypotonia, respiratory compromise, laryngospasm/stridor, congenital myasthenia and myopathy. Recent evidence suggests a possible link between sodium channel dysfunction and sudden infant death. Increasingly recognised brain sodium channelopathy phenotypes include several epilepsy disorders and complex encephalopathies. Together these early onset muscle and brain phenotypes have a significant morbidity and an appreciable mortality rate but there have been significant advances in understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying them and these have helped to identify effective targeted therapies. The availability of effective treatments underlines the importance of increasing clinical awareness and the need to achieve a precise genetic diagnosis.