Troyer syndrome revisitedA clinical and radiological study of a complicated hereditary spastic paraplegia

Troyer syndrome, originally described in 1967 in an Old Order Amish population, is a complicated form of hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) inherited in an autosomal recessive fashion and slowly progressive. The cardinal features are spastic paraparesis, pseudobulbar palsy and distal amyotrophy, together with mild developmental delay and subtle skeletal abnormalities. We report a detailed evaluation of 21 cases of Troyer syndrome in the same Amish population, including three from the original study. Imaging of the brain revealed white matter abnormalities, particularly in the temporoparietal periventricular area. This study, coupled with the recent identification of the gene responsible (SPG20, encoding spartin), increases our understanding of this form of HSP.