Fumarate hydratase (FH) deficiency results in severe neonatal and early infantile encephalopathy that is characterized by poor feeding, failure to thrive, hypotonia, lethargy, and seizures. Dysmorphic facial features include frontal bossing, depressed nasal bridge, and widely spaced eyes. Many affected individuals are microcephalic. A spectrum of brain abnormalities are seen on magnetic resonance imaging, including cerebral atrophy, enlarged ventricles and generous extra-axial cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) spaces, delayed myelination for age, thinning of the corpus callosum, and an abnormally small brain stem. Brain malformations including bilateral polymicrogyria and absence of the corpus callosum can also be observed. Development is severely affected: most affected individuals are nonverbal and nonambulatory, and many die during early childhood. Less severely affected individuals with moderate cognitive impairment and long-term survival have been reported.

Individuals with ficolin-3 deficiency have highly variable manifestations and a variable age of symptom onset. Some patients may show increased susceptibility to infection in the perinatal or neonatal period, whereas others may show autoimmune features as adults. Ficolin-3, also known as H-ficolin, can activate the lectin pathway of the complement system; deficiency may thus lead to defects in the complement system (summary by Munthe-Fog et al., 2009 and Michalski et al., 2015). For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of lectin complement activation pathway defects, see LCAPD1 (614372).

Deficiency of very long-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase (VLCAD), which catalyzes the initial step of mitochondrial beta-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids with a chain length of 14 to 20 carbons, is associated with three phenotypes. The severe early-onset cardiac and multiorgan failure form typically presents in the first months of life with hypertrophic or dilated cardiomyopathy, pericardial effusion, and arrhythmias, as well as hypotonia, hepatomegaly, and intermittent hypoglycemia. The hepatic or hypoketotic hypoglycemic form typically presents during early childhood with hypoketotic hypoglycemia and hepatomegaly, but without cardiomyopathy. The later-onset episodic myopathic form presents with intermittent rhabdomyolysis provoked by exercise, muscle cramps and/or pain, and/or exercise intolerance. Hypoglycemia typically is not present at the time of symptoms.

Hyperphosphatasia with impaired intellectual development syndrome-6 (HPMRS6) is an autosomal recessive multisystem disorder characterized by global developmental delay, dysmorphic features, seizures, and congenital cataracts. Severity is variable, and the disorder may show a range of phenotypic and biochemical abnormalities, including increased serum alkaline phosphatase levels (summary by Ilkovski et al., 2015). The disorder is caused by a defect in glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) biosynthesis. For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of HPMRS, see HPMRS1 (239300). For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of GPI biosynthesis defects, see GPIBD1 (610293).

Visceral myopathy-2 (VSCM2) is characterized by gastrointestinal symptoms resulting from intestinal dysmotility and paresis, including abdominal distention, pain, nausea, and vomiting. Some patients exhibit predominantly esophageal symptoms, with hiatal hernia and severe reflux resulting in esophagitis and stricture, whereas others experience chronic intestinal pseudoobstruction. Bladder involvement resulting in megacystis and megaureter has also been observed and may be evident at birth (Dong et al., 2019; Gilbert et al. (2020)).

Immunodeficiency-87 and autoimmunity (IMD87) is an autosomal recessive immunologic disorder with wide phenotypic variation and severity. Affected individuals usually present in infancy or early childhood with increased susceptibility to infections, often Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), as well as with lymphadenopathy or autoimmune manifestations, predominantly hemolytic anemia. Laboratory studies may show low or normal lymphocyte numbers, often with skewed T-cell subset ratios. The disorder results primarily from defects in T-cell function, which causes both immunodeficiency and overall immune dysregulation (summary by Serwas et al., 2019 and Fournier et al., 2021).