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Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare and devastating disease. New disease-modifying treatments have recently been approved and early treatment has been related to a better outcome. In this context, several newborn screening (NBS) programs have been implemented. The aim of the study was to obtain a global overview on the current situation and perspectives on SMA NBS. We conducted a survey and contacted experts from 152 countries, from which we gathered 87 responses. We identified 9 SMA NBS programs that have so far detected 288 newborns with SMA out of 3,674,277 newborns screened. Funding, screening methods, organisation, and consent process were variable between SMA NBS programs. Many respondents pointed the lack of cost/benefit data as a major obstacle to SMA NBS implementation. In the next four years, our data suggest a 24% coverage of newborns from countries where a disease-modifying drug is available and 8,5% coverage in countries with no diseases-modifying drugs. The annual proportion of newborns to be screened in the coming years is expected to increase steadily. The experts expressed a strong need for the implementation of SMA NBS as means to improve care for patients with SMA.

OBJECTIVES: Rolandic epilepsies (REs) represent the most frequent epilepsy in childhood. Patients may experience cognitive, speech, language, reading, and behavioral issues. The genetic origin of REs has long been debated. The participation of rare copy number variations (CNVs) in the pathophysiology of various human epilepsies has been increasingly recognized. However, no systematic search for microdeletions or microduplications has been reported in RE so far. METHODS: Array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were used to analyze the genomic status of a series of 47 unrelated RE patients who displayed various types of electroclinical manifestations. RESULTS: Thirty rare CNVs were detected in 21 RE patients. Two CNVs were de novo, 12 were inherited, and 16 were of unknown inheritance. Each CNV was unique to one given patient, except for a 16p11.2 duplication found in two patients. The CNVs of highest interest comprised or disrupted strong candidate or confirmed genes for epileptic and other neurodevelopmental disorders, including BRWD3, GRIN2A, KCNC3, PRKCE, PRRT2, SHANK1, and TSPAN7. SIGNIFICANCE: Patients with REs showed rare microdeletions and microduplications with high frequency and heterogeneity. Whereas only a subset of all genomic alterations found here may actually participate in the phenotype, the novel de novo events as well as several inherited CNVs contain or disrupt genes, some of which are likely to influence the emergence, the presentation, or the comorbidity of RE. The future screening of cohorts of larger size will help in detecting more de novo or recurrent events and in appreciating the possible enrichment of specific CNVs in patients with RE.