[Neurocristopathies: a high incidence of cerebral dysgenesis in patients with Hirschsprung's disease].

Introduction: Hirschsprung's disease (HD), or aganglionic megacolon, is a congenital disorder that is characterised by the absence of ganglion cells in the submucosal and myenteric plexuses of the intestine, which is caused by the failure of these cells to migrate from the neural crest (neurocristopathy). Cerebral dysgenesis and polymalformation syndromes have been reported in association with HD, thus suggesting an abnormal morphogenesis.
Aim: To study the frequency of cerebral malformations in patients with HD in our environment.
Patients and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 41,666 live newborn infants, over the period 1993-2003, and 17 cases of HD where identified.
Results: The incidence of HD in the health district of the province of Albacete is 1.68 per 5,000 live newborn infants. Of the 17 patients with HD who were studied, 10 were isolated (58.8%) and seven (41.1%) were associated to other structural abnormalities and psychomotor retardation. Three of the cases in this latter group were due to chromosome pathology (trisomy 21, Down syndrome), two were caused by specific polymalformation syndromes (one Mowat-Wilson syndrome and one possible FG syndrome), one was due to a pattern of abnormalities that did not fit any known syndrome, and one had a normal phenotype and isolated cerebral dysgenesis. In all of cases the neuroimaging studies identified cerebral dysgenesis that was compatible with neuronal migration disorders.
Conclusions: The frequency of association of HD, either isolated or within the context of a specific malformation syndrome, with neuronal migration disorders is high (23.5%). We suggest a full genetic and neurological evaluation should be carried out in patients with HD, together with brain imaging studies in order to rule out the possibility of cerebral dysgenesis.