Understanding the SCN2A mystery – therapeutic responses in a heterogeneous disease

Heterogeneity. The diversity of clinical presentations and responses to anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) has posed a major obstacle in developing strategies to treat patients with SCN2A-related epilepsies. While the literature provides multiple examples of single case reports with favorable responses to various AEDs, the broad range of disease presentations and known or presumed effects on channel function has made it extremely difficult to extrapolate findings from one patient to another. In a recent publication in Brain, we reviewed the largest cohort of patients with SCN2A-related neurodevelopmental disorders so far, including a subset of patients with detailed phenotypic data over time. With this data, we were able to find support for the hypothesis that age of seizure onset correlates with the functional effect of the mutations and the response to common anti-epileptic medications, taking a first step towards understanding the SCN2A mystery. Continue reading